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aeithalian · 11 months

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On Apollo and fatal flaws

Vague question for my fellow apollogists out there: what do we think Apollo's fatal flaw is? I write this realizing that, in all five books of the series, all told from Apollo's point of view, we never actually have it explicitly stated, either from Apollo's knowledge and refusal to share (which, strangely, seems to me like something he would tell us), or from him not actually knowing, either.

Simply stated, a fatal flaw is any kind of weakness of a hero, god or mortal, that can be exploited and can cause the downfall of that character. That being said, we already know some that generally scope out the larger range of what they can be:

Percy: excessive personal loyalty

Annabeth: hubris/pride

Nico: holding grudges

Thalia: ambition

Leo: feeling inferior

Piper: low self-esteem

Luke: wrath

Jason: hesitation and excessive deliberation

And we are certain that immortals have flaws like these, too. Although it isn't explicitly stated in canon what Zeus' fatal flaw is, it's exceedingly obvious that it's paranoia and hunger for power, as well as his sexual infidelity.

I feel like we can easily knock some flaws off the list already:

Holding grudges is off the list for the main reason that, if there's one thing Apollo oozes, it's forgiveness, and the fact that he is always ready to give second chances to people who have wronged him and the world (Lityerses, Luguselwa, Meg, etc.)

For the same reason, I'm going to knock off wrath. Yes, he has moments of rage, but so does everybody else! It's human nature, and, as stated before, it's usually overshadowed by Apollo's choice to let go of that anger and choose forgiveness instead.

Ambition is an interesting one, but it's not at all something that really comes up in the series to the point where it ends up being powerful enough to be his fatal flaw. He rarely seeks power he didn't already have before, especially when you consider he is Zeus' most powerful son, and one of the most powerful gods period. Why would he need more power? Unless, of course, you choose to point out that one time he tried to overthrow Zeus, but I'd argue he was acting more out of a place of 'hey please be better at your job' than 'I want your title and position', which actually falls more under Poseidon's motivations in that myth.

Interestingly, there's a certain aspect of Apollo's character in the myths that totally screws the pooch in terms of this discussion, and that's the fact that Apollo, throughout the stories of Ancient Greece, is a typical example of perfection. Literally, he's written to be virtually flawless, the paragon of young men, and (in the context of Ancient Greek culture) doesn't have many moments of rage, selfishness, or paranoia, or at least, not as many as other gods (looking at you, Artemis).

HOWEVER, as much as the myths seemingly act like he doesn't have a glaringly obvious flaw, we as a part of Apollo's inner circle/audience know he's got one - I mean, look at him! It's in there somewhere, nobody's perfect, and I don't think anybody's pretending as such for Apollo. What irks me is that we know Apollo is not lacking in general character flaws, but there is one, beyond a doubt, that shapes his inner core irreversibly. And we don't know it.

Thankfully, though, we've got five books of content that might help us come to a conclusion.

The Hidden Oracle, being the beginning of the story and the beginning of Apollo's character development, is where we would get an inkling of what Apollo wants us to think his fatal flaw is. To us, Apollo appears vain, self-centered, and, frankly annoying. And he does these things on purpose. Or at least, he tells us these things.

That's the thing: if you look past all the fluff Apollo spits out to the audience throughout the first majority of the book, before his children are taken into the forest, you'd find that his dialogue, aka how the other characters of the story hear and see him, doesn't really reflect that. Most of the annoying, self-centered brattiness is only on the page, and not as obvious in his personal interactions (not saying they're not there, but it's so much worse in his internal monologue). So, what does this tell us?

That those aren't his fatal flaws. He's very good at pretending that they are, probably because, as I've read several other metas very cleverly explain, that this is what gods are supposed to be, and, Apollo, in his desperation be his father's golden child again (or, also to avoid his wrath, take that how you will) has built up a very elaborate mask for thousands of years, because that is what he is not. He's trying to be glossed over in the vast sea that is the gods, and it's not really working because, well, he got turned into a mortal. Again.

As we pass through books 2 and 3, we're still not quite past the whole "pretending to be petty and self-serving because this is what I am supposed to be as dictated by the laws of my immortal people and my father". That, almost certainly, doesn't come until the latter half of The Burning Maze. So it's further safe to assume that our best guess as to his fatal flaw probably coincides with his more honest moments with the audience, eg. books 4 and 5.

Now, I know a popular common answer to this whole question is that it's his ego and his pride. But here's the thing: as we move on to the second half of the series, we get an interesting revealing of Apollo's perception of himself. To put it plainly: Apollo is not a narcissist, as much as he pretends to be (see the above points). Honestly, he might actually hate himself and what he's become as he learns to take a more critical view of himself as the series goes on. Drawn in direct antithesis to his moments in the first two books, when he tells us that he assumes that anybody he meets is willing to help him, after the peak of his development (marked by his promise and Jason's subsequent death), this isn't the case. That's why I'm pretty okay with putting pride and ego towards the bottom of my list of possible fatal flaws for him.

Honestly, if I didn't know any better as we reach the end of the series, I'd say Apollo's fatal flaw might fall somewhere closer to poor self-esteem, insecurity and self-doubt, but for some reason, that doesn't quite fit. I'd argue that a lot of those feelings probably stem from being stuck in the inadequate body of a mortal with a tiny fraction of his usual power - of course he's going to feel like that. That, and it's almost the direct opposite of what his flaw is perceived to be by other sources, so it feels like too large a leap to me.

I'm deliberating from my point, which is this: I still have no clue what his fatal flaw is.

It's not:

narcissism

pride

OR on the other side of the spectrum:

low-self esteem

self-doubt

OR the list of things we knocked off earlier:

holding grudges

wrath

ambition

And when you compare to other characters he might also be like, I would argue he's a totally different animal. The only character I could see a similarity with is Percy. But, again, it's just not the same. Percy's flaw, excessive personal loyalty, still doesn't really fit because, while I'd argue that Apollo's never really put in a situation where he's had to choose to save the life a mortal friend over his task of restoring the Oracles, I do believe he has a strong sense of duty. No, I don't think he would sacrifice Meg's life to do that job, but it's not something we see him forced to pick between (that I can think of, at least). I like to think that, on one hand, Percy would flat-out refuse to do his duty to save the life of a friend out of principle, whereas Apollo might find a clever loophole to save the friend, do the duty, and end up doing harm to himself. If anything, while Percy would be ready to burn the world to save a friend, Apollo would be ready to burn himself first.

That, I think, is our biggest indicator. Apollo loves his friends and the world. He wears his heart on his sleeve, this is something the Triumvirate exploits to no end.

Athena tells Percy something in the PJO series (the Titan's Curse, I think?) and says that the most dangerous fatal flaws are the ones that are good in moderation. And, of course, Apollo is a main character, so naturally his fatal flaw will fall under this category.

I think Apollo's fatal flaw is of the same breed as Percy's, but isn't really the same creature. I'm sure there's a more eloquent way to put this, but it seems to me that his fatal flaw has something to do with his tendency to be self-sacrificing, easily forgiving, and empathetic. He's been stabbed in the back several times and every time chooses instead to show trust and camaraderie, to see the best in people, and give them another chance to prove themselves: with Meg, Crest, Lityerses, Luguselwa, Meg's adoptive siblings, and many, many more. That seems very dangerous in the wrong situation, yes? Especially someone in Apollo's position - there are plenty of bad people who would be ready to take advantage of this.

And what is a story if not the hero learning to overcome their fatal flaw? And, really what is the Trials of Apollo all about? How do we end? What choices does Apollo make for the future at the conclusion of the Tower of Nero that directly contradict his overwhelming urge to choose forgiveness and let others try again?

The Tower of Nero, Chapter 36

At the end of any good epic story, the hero learns to overcome their weaknesses and flaws and do the right thing regardless. For Apollo, this comes when he refuses to forgive one person: Zeus. Apollo ends his pentalogy with coming to an understanding of himself and his relationship with his father, learning to overcome that tendency see the best in everyone, and realize that not everyone can choose to change for the better like Apollo has.

EDIT: a masterlist of my other metas

#thank u for coming to my ted talk #trials of apollo #toa #apollogists #riordanverse

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wiisepuppytravelerthesequel2 · 1 year

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pjo fans, listen to me.

i wanna introduce you guys to a series called artemis fowl by eoin colfer.

its an 8 book series about an irish genius 12 year old boy that discovers the existence of fairies.

in the first book, he uses this knowledge to his advantage and abducts a fairy for his own personal gain.

over time, however, he learns that the fairies are actually pretty chill and he instead decides to cooperate with them. and so, he goes on a bunch of adventures with the fairyfolk and eventually befriends them.

its a really interesting series. investing, witty. the protaganist is super likable. also, the characters are diverse without it being enforced too much. and the writing is immaculate!!! the plots are so investing in each and every book, and its just great overall.

its so interesting and if anyone wants to check it out i 100% recommend that you do.

the reason i make this post is that i fell inlove with this series as a kid and i obsessed over it for SO long. it still has a special place in my heart. problem is, its not really popular. which is SO goddamn unfair as its a wonderful series. i want it to get the recognition it deserves.

#heroes of olympus#rick riordan#pjo fandom#pjo series#trials of apollo#solangelo headcanon#percy jackon and the olympians#leo valdez#will solace#solangelo#nico di angelo#artemis fowl#holly short#julius root#domovoi butler#juliet butler… See all

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willsimpforanyone · 2 years

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Can u please write me a PJO x female reader smut thing where the seven (plus Thalia, Reyna and Will) all have oral s-x with r. (Female receiving) and just basically who does what best. (All individually btw) Thanks 😊

okay i have a whole load of requests from this user but they're deactivated- if anyone knows if they have a new account or anything please let me know! i'm gonna try my best to get through their requests bc their prompts are great

to clarify!! all people involved in this imagine are 18+ and hopefully that will be evident

since it's female recieving i'm gonna leave out nico, obviously, but i will include will because i think he's bi

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Percy Was gonna start off with some kind of wet/controlling water pun but I'm not that smart. Anyway, I think this man has speed on his side. He's intense and fast and has all your weaknesses memorised. Gets a huge huge ego boost if he makes you come using only his mouth, not even using his fingers. Makes a game out of how fast he can make you come, and uses his ability to breathe underwater to eat you out in the bath just because he can.

Annabeth Loves to take her time. Not massively into spontaneous sex, but prefers to kind of plan to make you scream in the evening and see you squirm all day. Big on the build-up, won't use her mouth until you're literally begging. Slow and steady and drags it out until you are writhing and screaming. Loves licking her lips afterwards to taste you one last time.

Jason Starts off a little unsure but quickly figures out what you like and what you don't. A fast learner, pays attention and likes you telling him explicitly what to do so he can make you feel as good as possible. Starts thinking about it at some point during the day and can't stop until he comes back to you, picks you up and eats you out like a starved man. Once he gets confident, big on surprising you and has definitely come in his pants while making you come with his mouth.

Piper Looks fucking stunning going down on you, thinks you look fucking stunning when she's going down on you. You know the two short nails with the rest being long nails? Queen of that look, will somehow bring attention to those nails until you look desperate enough for her to lay you flat on the sofa and make you come hard on said fingers and her tongue. Side note, has definitely tried to make you come through charmspeak alone.

Leo His mouth runs at 100 miles an hour so he has a somewhat innate tongue talent. Adores wrapping his hands around your thighs, pinning you to one place and spending any amount of time between your legs. If he's been struggling with an idea or a machine and getting frustrated, will come home and pull you into the bedroom fully intending to have you coming so hard you shake for hours just to focus his attention solely on something else and remind himself that he's damn good at something.

Hazel Patient and soft and careful and always always makes you come at least twice. A quiet determination that is rooted in wanting to listen to your moans for longer because she loves them so much. Likes to sit you down and have a conversation about what you like and what turns you on even if it results in heavy blushing and feeling a little embarrassed. Remembers all the things you like and knows when to put this knowledge to use.

Frank The first time he's so nervous and does a ton of research on incognito mode but gets comfortable surprisingly easy. Suggests eating you out as a way to destress you after a long day. Loves loves loves feeling you struggle a little when he's using his hands to hold down your hips or stomach. Adores the feeling of getting his face soaked and seeing your skin glistening under his administrations.

Thalia Fierce and fast. Nails digging into your skin and throws all her effort into giving you a mind-blowing orgasm. Is careful not to hurt you, but loves eating you out hard and rough. Fucking adores the feeling of your thighs squeezing her head or your hands knitted into her hair. On her knees in front of you is her favourite position- looks submissive but you both know she's in control here.

Reyna Her stress reliever. Passionate and can go for hours, one of her favourite places is in between your legs. Occasionally and consensually will wake you up by eating you out. Prefers to settle her hands on your hips, fingertips pressing into your skin to keep you still and let her make you feel incredible. Loves sitting back on her calves once she's done with you, staring down at your fucked-out expression and wiping at her mouth with a smirk.

Will Teases you until you grab his hair and pulls him to where you want him. Your thighs will be covered in tiny red marks from him dragging his teeth over your skin. Will lock your fingers together and let you squirm as much as you want without letting you get very far. Has the biggest grin on his face when he makes you come, and loves the shaking of your legs especially when he makes you come multiple times.

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i very much hope you enjoyed, thank you for requesting!

#pjo #percy jackson #annabeth chase #piper mclean #jason grace #hazel levesque #frank zhang #leo valdez #thalia grace #reyna ramirez avila arellano #will solace #bi!will #smut #pjo smut #imagine #heroes of olympus #hoo

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housemartius · 4 years

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bad representation in the pjo-verse: a masterpost

(disclaimers under the cut)

RACISM/OFFENSIVE STEREOTYPING

general issues: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7 // 8

SAMIRAH:

- arranged marriage: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4

- hijab: 1 // 2

- response to rick’s post: 1 // 2

- nickname “sam”: 1 // 2 // 3

HAZEL:

- general issues: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6

- physical appearance: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7 // 8 // 9

- fr*zel: 1 // 2

- white/lightwashing: 1

- (bonus: fancasts/faceclaims/art references)

PIPER:

- general issues: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7 // 8

- physical appearance: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7 // 8 // 9 // 10 // 11

- relationship with tristan: 1

- cornucopia: 1

- response to rick’s post: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4

- (bonus: resources masterpost)

SADIE:

- whitewashing: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7 // 8 // 9

LEO: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5

REYNA: 1 // 2 // 3

MALLORY: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4

PAOLO: 1

THOMAS JEFFERSON JR: 1 // 2

latine rep: 1 // 2 // 3

eastern asian rep: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4

indian rep: 1

southwestern asian rep: 1 // 2

antisemitism: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4

- LAVINIA: 1 // 2

the monsters and racial coding: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4

the gods and dna: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5

camp jupiter and the confederacy: 1

cultural appropriation: 1 // 2

white supremacy: 1

racism centric post with additions on leo + paolo + antisemitism: 1

ANTI-LGBTQ+

- general issues: 1 // 2

- nico’s romanticized forced outing: 1 // 2

- lesbophobia: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6

- ace/aro rep: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4

- transphobia: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4

ABLEISM

- general issues: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7 // 8 // 9 // 10

- clovis: 1 // 2

- solangelo: 1 // 2

ABUSE

- leo: 1 // 2 // 3

BIG AGE GAPS

- general issues: 1

- annabeth and luke: 1

- black female characters: 1 // 2

- female characters: 1

- apollo and thalia: 1

MISOGYNY/SEXISM

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7

FATPHOBIA

1 // 2 // 3

ACNE

1 // 2

UNDERAGE ALCOHOLISM

disclaimers:

1. i personally acknowledge that rick is an author who has been a pioneer in the inclusion of diversity in his works in children’s media. i believe that rick riordan has genuinely good intentions when he adds a new character to his books that isn’t cis, het, white, christian, etc

2. this is not in support of “cancelling” rick riordan. it’s about accountability, responsibility. as a white cishet christian man, rick does not possess either the knowledge or personal experiences to write about certain communities he himself is not a part of, and thus he must obligatorily resort to research. and thus it is expected of him to put in all the required effort and care in said research to meet a certain standard

3. this is not about who is right or who is wrong. opinions differ. not all lgbtq+ fans agree that nico’s outing, for example, was terrible. just like not all native fans agree that piper’s feather issue is offensive. and so on. that said, however: if you are not part of a certain minority/community, you have absolutely no say in whether the character that belongs to that very minority/community is good or bad representation (example: if you’re not muslim, you have no authority on whether samirah is good or bad representation for muslims)

4. this is about offering a different perspective. people’s lives are different, their experiences are different, their personal relations with society and the world are different, even if they belong to the same minority/community. this in turn affects the way we look at these books and these characters. as mentioned before, it’s only natural that due to this not all of us will see eye to eye when it comes to certain issues, and that’s okay

5. this is also about encouraging debate and the general talking of certain topics and problems within these books that had never been brought to light until very, very recent years. and to further assert the constant need for us to consume our media in a critical way. fiction does affect reality, no matter how some people will have you believe otherwise

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twinsarekeepers · 3 years

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The more I reread the PJO series, the more clear it is to me that Annabeth isn’t white.

(I know y’all are going to be in my mentions like “oh but she has blonde hair and grey eyes she can’t be black or brown” and I KNOW! I know RR saw her as a white girl when he was writing the books. I am aware of that fact. It just so happens that I can see a ton of my own experiences (specifically related to being a brown woman) in the way she’s perceived by other characters.)

So, like, in the first book, she was so mad at Percy because he got a quest even though he knew particularly nothing about the demigod world (and everything he did know was stuff she taught him) and she had been working basically her whole life to get one. I mean, seriously, she was more equipped to lead a quest because she’d literally lived on streets before. (And I know they banned quests after Luke’s and it was a special circumstance so they had to give one to Percy but it’s so clear that he has no idea what’s going on and that he agrees to bring Annabeth along because he knows he’ll need her intelligence and expertise to complete the quest).

And, like, she is literally the most educated, knowledgeable person on the Argo II, ffs she’s LITERALLY the daughter of Athena, but her intelligence is constantly questioned. (And I know it’s because RR was like “oh it’s because she’s blonde” 🙄 Istg, I’m going to strangle that man in his sleep). But, who is the most educated demographic in the US and are still constantly overlooked and their intelligence insulted? Black women. I just—RICHARD, IT WAS RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU IM GOING TO SCREAM!

The other characters see her as this strong, tough warrior, but she literally cries in every book. That’s not to say she’s not strong or tough or a warrior, but she is also soft and gentle and that’s extremely overlooked by not just the characters, but the fandom as well. The way she holds Percy’s hand in times when he’s stressed out and assures him when he’s feeling like he can’t do something. The way she comforts characters who are in emotional pain like Juniper and Silena. When Piper first got to camp and Annabeth showed her around and tried to make her feel at home. Even when Drew was being mean to Piper, Annabeth didn’t take sides and instead mitigated the tension. She cheered Hazel up after her fight with Jason. Frank came to her for advice and she was very considerate of his feelings and comfort. She was intuitive enough to figure out why Leo acted the way he did and than she defended his actions to Frank. These are all things that she does that are vulnerable and show her heart but most of the characters still view her as scary and intimidating.

And they see Annabeth as strong enough to just handle emotional turmoil all by herself. Like, y’all remember when Percy was kind of surprised that Annabeth needed a hug in BOTL? (Why? He’s seen her cry before. He’s seen her need comfort before. What makes him think it would be a one time thing?). Or when he didn’t tell her that he was worried about her? (He really said “stay here and protect Nico and Rachel”. And then in his head he was like, “I didn’t tell Annabeth but I was worried about her too.” MY GUY?? WHY WOULDN’T YOU TELL HER??) Or how about when she was literally sobbing on the ground after seeing Luke turn into Kronos and Percy, Rachel, and Nico were just … standing around, talking. Percy literally tried to pick a fight with her in that moment. Like, wtf was that?? (I mean, he tried to be a little bit more gentle with her when he was telling her to get up and leave but at that point, the damage is done, dude, you’ve already kicked her while she was down).

This connects to how she’s stripped of her femininity. The fact that she’s canonically good at weaving (a traditionally feminine task) and it seems to be forgotten by all the characters and even the fandom. The fact that she enjoys wearing dresses and makeup and jewelry but Percy finds those things awkward on her (I made a post about that here if y’all want to read it. The Richard stannies found it though so beware the notes). There are so many instances in the books where she so obviously fits into a traditionally feminine role but they’re glossed over or ignored. As a South Asian woman, I know how this feels.

Okay and then on Circe’s Island, when Circe said something like “oh and that HAIR!” and Annabeth was like “what’s wrong with my hair?” …. That’s a micro aggression if I’ve ever seen one. I just know if Annabeth was a white girl with type 3, loose ass curls, Circe would not have said that shit.

And all of the reasons we think Percy is not white ALSO APPPLY TO ANNABETH. Like, she went to through all the same stuff that Percy went through in the mortal world. She literally said as much in the beginning of TLT.

Annabeth is just so clearly not white to me. And the fact that RR didn’t see how so many of her experiences lined up with a black or brown woman’s will actually be my villain origin story. He really wrote “she’s oppressed because she’s blonde” with his whole chest. Great job in proving how much of a rich, white man you are, Richard.

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seattlesea · 3 years

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bad representation in the riordanverse

Racism:

-Gave Hazel and Piper gold and ‘kaleidoscope’/brown-blue-green changing eyes and pretty much went ‘Let’s add some characters of color but they cANT HAVE BROWN EYES THAT’S NOT PRETTY ENOUGH’ as if whitewashing isn’t more than just the skin.

-East Asian characters: Riordan pretty much went 'Here are my East Asian characters- one of them looks like a fat baby on steroids and is super undeveloped, his mother is strict and cold, and all the others are just described as 'Asian' because different countries in Asia don't exist and there's obviously no difference between Japanese, Chinese, and Korean'. His portrayal of East Asian characters went like this: Frank: Chinese, chubby, hates himself, underdeveloped, described to look like a 'Chinese Canadian baby man' and a 'panda' as if that's not stereotyping, and only learned to love himself when he looked hotter. Drew: Asian, villainized, rude, shallow, vain, and selfish. Ethan: Asian, rude, evil, a traitor, and deceased. Grandma Zhang- rude, strict, cold, traditional, and deceased.

-Hazel: Has gold eyes. Has 'cinnamon brown' hair even though dark brown or black hair would be way more inclusive and realistic. Had a mother portrayed as a rude and selfish witch who sacrificed, used, and trafficked her own child. Was the only character called or described as a witch while African-Americans were usually accused of witchcraft just for their skin color. Was the only character who was cursed. Had a mother who literally practiced voodoo. The only African-American character in the series before ToA who isn't dead (but she also died). Was paired with a sixteen year old guy even though African women are constantly forced with older men and that's blatantly racist stereotyping.

-Piper: Had 'chocolate brown' and then 'mahogany' hair? Has kaleidoscope eyes. Put a feather in her hair (which is stereotyping)- and it was an eagle feather, which is also wrong because eagles are extremely sacred to First Nation tribes and only spiritual leaders or warriors can wear it or it has to be gifted by an Elder of the tribe, and Riordan basically went 'Feathers are very important and it's racist to make a character wear one at inappropriate times but I'm going to make my character wear one as a cute accessory to make her look cool, pretty, and headstrong and to add to her 'Aesthetic'’ even though Cherokees didn’t wear feathers (which proves he did the bare minimum of research). Constantly oversexualized (56% of First Nation women are sexually harassed and Riordan had the audacity to put Piper in an 'embarrassingly low v-neck' and to have her constantly drooled over by a WHITE MALE and have her sexualized by her 1000+ mother without her knowledge or consent). It's said that her father was from a reservation in Oklahoma...but there are no reservations in Oklahoma, only cultural centers (which also proves that he did the bare minimum of research). She's the only First Nations character and she's the only character (besides Nancy Bobofit) depicted as a kleptomaniac (First Nations people are constantly called thieves by racist assholes). “The week before, he’d turned down several million dollars to play Tonto in a remake of The Lone Ranger. Piper was still trying to figure out why. He’d played all kinds of roles—a Latino teacher in a tough L.A. school, a dashing Israeli spy in an action-adventure blockbuster, even a Syrian terrorist in a James Bond movie. And, of course, he would always be known as the King of Sparta. But if the part was Native American—it didn’t matter what kind of role it was—Dad turned it down.” (The Lost Hero, page 165). So her father is fine with playing an extremely racist and stereotypical Middle Eastern role but not a First Nations role. Uses a cornucopia as a weapon (how she got it- cutting it off a half-bull- is disrespectful to her culture as hurting an animal is banned and she used a cornucopia- a symbol of Thanksgiving- as a weapon). Cut her hair, which is basically taboo in First Nations culture.

-Samirah: Had an arranged marriage (at age twelve, and she believed that she was groomed to be married to a rich and respectable family and nothing else). Ripped off her hijab in front of tons of male characters. The only Muslim character. The only Muslim character and she's the only character who married her cousin (you're supposed to break stereotypes, not enforce them).

Thomas Jefferson Jr: Said that he was thankful to the British for not siding with the South during the American Civil War even though they needed the South's cotton (but they didn't side with the North either). AKA a black man and son of a freed slave was thankful to Britain for not openly oppressing him? And at the same time he was named after a racist slave-owner.

Reyna: She's brown and her entire story revolves around her being independent, strong, alone, and self-sufficient but also desperately needing love and support but then Riordan says that she can't get her heart healed AKA she went through an abusive home, killed her father, left her sister, felt alone her whole life, worked a two-person job alone for months, and had to put on a brave face for others throughout all this then was literally told 'Shut up no one wants to hear about your struggles, just suck it up and deal with it’ and have you seen all the shit brown girls have to go through and keep silent about it?

Extra: -Latino, Puerto Rican, African-American, Chinese-Canadian, East Asian, First Nations, etc. characters and the two most powerful, best, and most skilled characters and who the stories mostly revolve around are two white guys AKA white supremacy.

-"Harriet Tubman, daughter of Hermes, used many mortals on her Underground Railroad for just this reason" and that World War II was caused by a child of Zeus and a child of Hades fighting very blatantly erases the shit those people went through and Riordan just went 'Let's use these racist movements as little easter eggs in my story'.

-Thanatos, who was chained and enslaved, is described with dark skin.

-Riordan writing the characters went a little something like this: Drew: You get common Eastern Asian features like dark hair and eyes because you're arrogant, selfish, conceited, and rude, and because you're an antagonist and you're going to be used to make one of my protagonists- who has unique traits- look good so you're going to have the basic, 'boring' physical traits so the readers know who's the more superior of the two of you. Leo: You get common Latino features like curly dark hair, dark eyes, and light brown skin cause you're the weird, hyperactive unattractive one who's very flirty but constantly gets rejected and you're the only main character without a love interest and the only way you can get a girlfriend is when she's forced to fall in love with you through a curse. Frank: You get common Chinese features like dark hair and eyes cause you're the fat unattractive loser who catches the eye of the African character who already has unique and 'special' traits so you don't have to be super attractive. Reyna: You get common Puerto Rican traits like dark skin, hair, and eyes cause you're the stoic, lonely, intimidating, and cold one who wants all the guys (two white guys for that matter) but none of them want you and they both have girlfriends with traits like blonde hair and gray and kaleidoscope eyes so the readers know who are the more interesting couples. Piper and Hazel: You two get eurocentric features because you're the main characters I have to set apart from everyone else- including other females whom I'm going to make one of you rivals with- so the readers know who's more superior so I'm giving you unique eye colors that literally cannot be found in humans so I'm going to try to validate it by saying that it's from something mildly associated with your godly parent even though neither of them have those traits. Riordan basically said that the common features are bad and boring and that unique and special features- aka features not found in those ethnicities- are good and cool. Also- if gods don’t have DNA how can their traits be passed down to their demigod children checkmate Riordan.

-Cecil Markowitz is the only Jewish character in PJO and the first thing used to describe him is "That kid, always thinking about the potential payout".

-Lavinia said that she was going to bring her date to her bat mitzvah even though you don't bring dates to bat mitzvahs or bar mitzvahs and she said that it was 'awkward' to tell her rabbi that someone was going to be her date even though you don't explain your guestlist to your rabbi, and they're most likely not even going to be at the party.

-Only three Latino and Puerto Rican characters (Leo, Reyna, and Hylla) and all three came from abusive households.

-Leo said 'Mamacita' as if that's not stereotyping.

-Made Nico ‘pale’ even though he had olive skin and gave him black hair and dark eyes despite Italians usually having light hair and eyes just to add to his ‘Goth Boy Aesthetic’.

-Hazel described Pluto to look like Adolf Hitler.

-Carter Kane said that Elvis took African-American music and made it sound like rock 'n roll and described it as cool- like no it’s cultural appropriation.

-Leo was abused and Riordan thought that it'd be funny to make all the other characters line up to punch him and then try to make it look funny.

-Gave almost every single POC character a white name and sometimes gave them white first names and POC surnames, and Reyna and Bianca are the only POC characters with names from their culture/native language and one of them is dead and reborn as someone else and the other’s full name wasn’t revealed until the fourth book in her series and she hates using it.

-Made two POC characters with names from their culture- Samirah and Olujime- go by white nicknames (Sam and Jamie) to make it ‘easier to read’ despite having white characters with the same amount of syllables in their names (like Annabeth) that didn’t go by nicknames.

-Never actually described the characters of color with physical traits from their ethnicities (Reyna, Hylla, and Leo with big eyes, thick eyebrows, brown hair, wide noses, full lips, etc., Piper with almost-oriental eyes, shovel teeth, high cheekbones, black hair, etc., Nico with light or brown hair and eyes, olive skin, a narrow nose, etc., Hazel with a wide nose and lips, dark brown eyes, black or dark brown hair, big eyes, thick eyebrows, etc.).

Anti-LGBTQ+:

-Nico was forcibly outed by Cupid and Riordan and the fandom didn't care and the only thing they thought was 'Aww, he has a crush on Percy! So cute!' AKA romanticizing a forced outing.

-Riordan said that he didn't want to make Reyna lesbian or bisexual because he thought it'd be stereotypical making her LGBTQ+ because she didn't want men anymore even though she could've been bisexual all along but Riordan casually dismissed the idea of that saying "Having a girl end up with a woman after dating men is a bad stereotype" and basically said that real bi girls don’t exist.

-The Hunters of Artemis were made so Artemis/Diana could protect those girls from men and their behavior towards women but Riordan dismissed lesbian relationships- even though nothing about that was said in real Greek mythology- meaning that he thinks that women need protection from other women just as much as they need protection from men.

-Alex Fierro is the only gender-fluid or transgender character and she/he’s seen as rude, snarky, and sharp and Magnus could magically tell when Alex changed gender.

-Riordan said that he wouldn’t make Reyna a lesbian because of stereotypes despite the reader asking if Reyna was going to get a girlfriend, not come out as lesbian AKA Riordan thinks ‘Girls liking girls’ is automatically ‘lesbian’ and completely dismissed bi, pan, poly, omni, etc. girls.

-Used a self-insert to make fun of wlw readers who saw themself in Reyna and thought she could be a cool character to relate to.

-Enforced LGBTQ+ stereotypes like the cold-hearted Asexual, the flamboyant bi/pan, the snarky gender-fluid, the emo gay, the laid-back and rebellious lesbian who dyed her hair pink and chews a lot of bubblegum, etc.

-Has one-hundred fifty-five characters total minus gods/goddesses, Titans, giants, nymphs, dryads, satyrs, monsters, etc. and only has fifteen confirmed LGBTQ+ characters (do the math, that’s exactly one out of ten regarding OCs).

-Only one character that isn’t cishet.

-Saves most the LGBTQ+ for the side characters or only confirms characters LGBTQ+ once they’ve become a minor character despite being a main character before.

-Only stated that Reyna was Asexual outside of his books and on Twitter as if that’s not exactly what J.K Rowling is doing.

-Used the LGBTQ+ community to make Piper seem like the ‘special snowflake’ and to set her apart from her siblings to make it seem like she’s better than all of them and used Hera/Juno and Aphrodite/Venus as excuses for his homophobic mindset that believes that straight is the default cause “Suddenly, much of what she and I had talked about started to make sense. Not being defined by Aphrodite’s expectations. Or Hera’s ideas of what a perfect couple looked like. Piper finding her own way, not the one people expected of her” in synonymous words is 'The expectations for love and the idea of a perfect couple are a heterosexual relationship, and anyone who 'finds their own way instead of the ones people expect' are different'. ‘Different’ and ‘default’ are antonyms AKA if he thinks that LGBTQ+ people are ‘different’, he thinks that straight is the ‘default’. Remember- an author writes their own personal beliefs.

-Josephine is the only black LGBTQ+ character.

-Reyna is said to be Asexual despite feeling sexual attraction towards Percy cause no one likes someone five minutes after knowing them and it’s anything but sexual attraction.

-Magnus and Alex are the only LGBTQ+ relationship whose growth and development is actually shown in the story (while there was also Apollo and Commodus, Piper and Shel, Will and Nico, Apollo and Hyacinthus, Emmie and Jo, Lavinia and Poison Oak, etc.).

-Riordan never canonically said the name of any sexuality and is clearly uncomfortable with the LGBTQ+ community shown by his little to no writing regarding physical affection and deep emotions in his LGBTQ+ relationships.

-Only added in LGBTQ+ relationships for publicity- Percy Jackson and the Olympians release dates: 2005-2009. 2005-2009: LGBTQ+ support was nearly at an all-time low. No LGBTQ+ characters, relationships, or references in the books. The Lost Hero-The Mark of Athena release dates: 2010-2012. 2010-2012: LGBTQ+ support was still very low. Still no LGBTQ+ characters, relationships, or references in the books. The House of Hades release date: late 2013. Mid-2013: the giant spike for LGBTQ+ support and allies. One confirmed LGBTQ+ character. The Sword of Summer release date: late 2015. 2015: LGBTQ+ support was good and gay marriage was legalized. A few LGBTQ+ references but no confirmed characters. The Hammer of Thor and The Ship of the Dead release dates: 2016-2017. 2016-2017: LGBTQ+ support was quite high. Two confirmed LGBTQ+ characters and the first canon LGBTQ+ relationship and kiss. The Trials of Apollo release dates: 2016-2020. 2016-2020: LGBTQ+ support was very high. More LGBTQ+ characters confirmed in one book than all the other series combined. Kind of obvious he was just following the public opinion.

-Legit said ‘Reyna can’t like girls cause she has had crushes on guys before’.

Ableism:

-It was heavily implied in The Battle of the Labyrinth that Rachel Dare had schizophrenia/psychosis but it's never brought up again.

-Grover's fake feet made it look like he was disabled from the Mist and it was said that he was bullied because of it but it was never brought up again.

-It was said that Tyson looked like he had down syndrome from the Mist covering his one eye but it was never brought up again.

-It was stated that every character but Frank has ADHD and dyslexia but never actually showed any symptoms after Percy Jackson and the Olympians and characters like Piper and Leo were even able to read English writing throughout The Lost Hero and the only symptom of ADHD Riordan showed through his characters was ‘a lot of fidgeting’ as if that’s not a blatant stereotype.

Pedophilia:

-Luke, a twenty-two/twenty-three year old had a crush on Annabeth, a sixteen year old. That's a six-seven year age gap.

-The only two girls put into relationships with much older men are black (Hazel and Sadie).

-Hazel, a thirteen year old, got together with a sixteen year old guy. Hazel's crush on Frank is normal- a girl having a crush on an older guy, but Frank's crush on Hazel is disgusting- an older guy looking down at a child and thinking about making out with her.

Misogyny:

-Aphrodite's kids are seen as useless, weak, snobby, shallow, vain, and selfish just because they’re feminine.

-Riordan portrayed Aphrodite’s kids as feminine despite Aphrodite being the goddess of love and beauty, not femininity, as if romance and beauty are reserved for women only.

-Piper is the only 'tomboy' child of Aphrodite and she's portrayed as tougher, stronger, and better than her feminine siblings (and it's portrayed that way multiple times throughout the story like other characters telling Piper she’s "-tough for a child of Aphrodite").

-Piper immediately stereotyped and disliked every single feminine character like Drew and the rest of the Aphrodite cabin just because they liked makeup and skirts as if that’s not shallow criticism.

-Feminine characters like Drew, Isabel, Khione, and Medea are used or even created solely as antagonists to make Piper- the tomboy- look better.

-Calypso is the only feminine character and she sucks at everything.

-Riordan’s take on female characters: Drew: a vain, rude, selfish, snobby, and bitchy mean girl. Silena: a shallow traitor. Reyna: a cold-hearted robot. Piper: internalized misogyny that was never brought up again. Calypso: an island whore. Athena: a rude, aggressive bitch with no emotions. Aphrodite: shallow, vain, conceited, and self-centered. Hera: completely evil with no backstory added into it. Marie: an evil witch who selfishly used and sacrificed her daughter.

-The Hunters of Artemis were blessed by Artemis to protect them from men but Riordan made it only about the men in their lives (again) and portrayed the whole 'losing men' thing like it was a burden and that they're 'giving men up' even though they join the Hunters to leave men. He distorted the original meaning of the Hunters- protecting women- by making it about the Hunters hating and being forced to leave men even though they're asking to have no men in their lives, cause that's the point of it.

-The Amazons and Hunters of Artemis despise men and literally attack them if they so much as speak as if sexism is reserved for women only.

-Portrayed femininity as weakness (and masculinity as strength, it’s even in the word- tomBOY).

-Constantly pit women against women for the sake of romance and love triangles instead of normalizing women getting along despite liking the same people and let the female’s relationships get controlled and influenced by the men in their lives.

-The men always outpower the women in powers and skills. Riordan’s portrayal of powers and characters- Percy: You’re going to have epic water powers and can even create your own personal hurricanes and even though you’ve only been canonically training for eight months total you’re going to be the best swordfighter despite multiple characters having years more training than you. Jason: You’re going to be able to fly, control lightning, create storms, and electric shock people into another dimension. Leo: You’re going to be able to create and control fire and blow shit up with just a screwdriver. Frank: You’re going to be able to shape-shift into any animal you want, even a whole dragon. Nico: You’re going to be able to control darkness and shadows, literally teleport, and raise a whole army of undead soldiers. Reyna: Powers? Nah, your only ability is to lend strength to others as if that benefits you at all. Annabeth: Powers? Nah. Piper: You’re going to be able to manipulate and seduce people and are literally going to use your body and attractiveness as a weapon and your power is literally called charmspeak. Hazel: You have more powers than all the other characters combined that can literally destroy anyone in less than a second but you’re never going to use them or even remember that you have them cause screw the female character being more powerful than the males.

-The men always accomplish the most incredible feats and if the females ever do accomplish something great (Reyna healing the riff and defeating Orion while the Hunters and Amazons couldn’t combined, Annabeth going through Tartarus, Hazel learning to control the Mist, etc.) they are never praised or rewarded or all the credit goes to the men.

-Ares/Mars in real Greek/Roman mythology was the feminist patron of the Amazons who loved his daughter very much and killed a rapist but was portrayed as the dumb, cruel asshole who loved nothing but bloodshed and tried to kill a twelve year-old kid who was trying to help him while Poseidon/Neptune in real Greek/Roman mythology was a greedy, short-tempered, and arrogant asshole who raped almost as much women than Zeus/Jupiter but was portrayed as the kind, caring, and gentle father figure.

Fatophobia:

-Frank is the only chubby character and he hates himself because of it, was constantly fat-shamed, and only learned to love himself after he got rippling abs, muscles, and looked hotter (because fat = ugly in Riordan’s mind, even though it's not).

-Clovis was depicted with a pot-belly and Drew described him as 'repulsive'.

-Dionysus/Bacchus is also depicted with a pot-belly and he's portrayed as a useless, rude, lazy, and drunken asshole.

Lookism:

Basically how Riordan wrote his characters- Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Reyna, Hazel, Piper, and most minor protagonists: You’re all going to be super attractive, have at least one character or more pining for you, have your looks constantly commented on, and some of you will even use your looks as a weapon cause that’s not obvious sexualization cause you’re all the main characters and protagonists that readers need to know are the protagonists. Nico, Leo, and Frank: You three are originally portrayed as unattractive but at some points are described as cute and two of you are insecure about your looks cause you’re scrawny and chubby and one of you hates yourself cause of your body and only learn to love yourself once you magically gain abs cause more muscle obviously equals more attractiveness. Luke, Silena, Chris, and Ethan: You four are going to be super attractive because you’re traitors but all of you make up for your actions and decide to help the demigods and become protagonists again. Octavian, Bryce, Michael, Titans, giants, etc.: You all are the antagonists so you have to be super ugly with multiple physical imperfections cause you’re not allowed to be attractive since you are against the protagonists and I have to set you guys apart and show the readers who’s the better and more superior character.

-Frank hated himself cause he was chubby and only loved himself once he got skinnier and gained muscle through magic but even then was called ‘cute like a panda’.

-Leo was described as scrawny and unattractive and was insecure about being short but even then was called ‘cute in a scrawny way’.

-Piper had facial imperfections and even a pimple on her nose but once she got claimed all of those disappeared and they stayed gone even after the blessing washed off despite all the magic being gone and only then was Piper’s looks commented on multiple times.

-Lester/Apollo hated his appearance cause he had a little flab and acne and his physical imperfections were used as comedy by making fun of it as if insecure readers don’t exist.

-Percy and Annabeth had one canon physical imperfection- a gray streak in their hair- and that magically washed away.

-None of the other characters were described with any physical imperfections like pimples/zits/acne, body hair (despite none of the characters having the care or time to wax or shave), bushy/frizzy or messy hair or eyebrows, big or small hands or noses, blackheads, super thick or thin eyebrows, blemishes, birthmarks, scars, stretch marks, braces, lazy eyes, yellow or chipped teeth, eye bags, glasses, moles, dimples, love handles, flab/fat, visible veins, freckles, etc. unless it added to their ‘aesthetic’ despite none of those being bad and saves it only for the antagonists as if ‘physical imperfections’ = ‘evil’.

Bias:

-Riordan portrayed the Romans as cold, cruel, ruthless, strict, and overall horrible despite them being the more inclusive camp regarding family and godly parents, have multiple families and rules that ensure their camper’s safety, and hold the nicest characters in the series while the Greeks are portrayed as fun, wild, reckless, silly, and cool despite holding the most prejudiced and rude characters, outcasting and ostracizing characters of certain godly parents just for their parentage, stereotype almost every single cabin, and make some campers without siblings live, sleep, and eat alone.

-Every Greek traitor (Luke, Silena, Ethan, and Chris) were portrayed as powerful, kind, attractive, and awesome and each made up for their actions but each Roman ‘traitor’ (Octavian, Bryce, and Michael, and only one of them are actually a traitor) were portrayed as unattractive, cruel, ambitious, ruthless, and extremely weak and never actually did anything useful.

-The Greeks were part of the Union and the Romans were part of the Confederacy (adding on to Riordan adding racist movements as fun little easter eggs in his stories).

-Four out of seven of the main Seven are Greek.

-There are at least 70+ Greek characters and less than thirty named Romans.

-The Battle of San Francisco Bay was used for the sole purpose to weaken the Romans and make the Greeks seem stronger than them and while the Greeks went through two whole wars, their camp laid almost completely untouched but the moment the Romans are introduced, half their population is wiped?

Romanticization:

-Romanticized Annabeth judo-flipping Percy AKA romanticized physical abuse/harassment (emotions, angriness, feelings of love and affection, ‘they went through a lot together’, etc. do not excuse hitting someone) despite Annabeth knowing where Percy’s Achilles Heel was and not knowing he lost it and flipping him on his back anyways (if Percy didn’t lose the Achilles Heel, Annabeth would’ve killed him).

-Romanticized Leo killing himself to see Calypso again and to take her off her island AKA a romanticized suicide.

-Romanticized Calypso yelling at and insulting Leo and Annabeth insulting and canonically lowering Percy’s self-esteem AKA romanticized verbal abuse/bullying.

-Romanticized Will trying to help Nico through his loneliness and depression as if that can’t be portrayed as someone just wanting to help another person AKA romanticized mental illness.

-Romanticized every character kissing another character without asking first and without their consent AKA romanticized sexual harassment.

-Romanticized Piper taking advantage over Jason’s amnesia and mental state and jumping onto him despite knowing there might be a girl he couldn’t remember AKA romanticized manipulation.

-Romanticized Piper and Annabeth’s possessive, overly-jealous, and controlling behavior over Jason and Percy (even before they were canonically dating).

-Romanticized Nico being forced to confess his crush on Percy AKA romanticized a forced outing.

Rick Riordan:

-Refused to apologize for his actions even after being called out by people from the groups he was writing inaccurately and stereotyping (Muslim, Jewish, African, First Nation, lesbian, gay, Puerto Rican, etc.) and tried to make himself look like the victim.

-Claimed he was being ‘bullied’ by readers half his age who were just pointing out his books’ racist flaws.

-Showed time and time again that he is not willing to listen to the voices of minorities.

-Clearly didn’t do his research on ethnicities, sexualities, religions, etc. shown by how he got the simplest things wrong.

-Tried to say that he- a straight white man- was right when people of the actual groups he was writing about (gay, First Nation tribes, etc.) were wrong.

-Used excuses like having a ‘headstrong’ and ‘stubborn’ character who wants to ‘show their culture in their own way’ for his stereotypes. No, Riordan, you want to show the culture that way, not Piper. She’s a fictional character, you’re real. Dumbass.

-Literally said ‘Sorry I put feathers in Piper’s hair, I can’t change what I wrote in the past and I didn’t know that sensitive readers existed’ then continued to write feathers in Piper’s hair in the future books.

The Fandom:

Note: Not to all of the fandom, obviously

-Draws Piper with light skin, light hair, and kaleidoscope eyes with feathers, hippie bands, and beads (yes, it's canon, but you're allowed to change it if it's blatantly racist, and the bead and hippie band thing was created by the fandom and that's also stereotyping).

-Almost always draw Reyna, Hylla, and Leo with light skin and Caucasian traits (props to the few artists who drew them with the right skin tones).

-Draws Hazel with gold eyes, ‘cinnamon’/light brown hair, and an adult body.

-Sexualizes female characters by drawing them in sexy and revealing clothes and giving them all the same exact sexy, slim, and perfect hour-glass shaped bodies.

-Almost never include physical imperfections, muscle, scars, stretch marks, etc. in drawings.

-Fancasts white actors for characters of color and puts actors/faceclaims of white people or people of different ethnicities in the moodboards or aesthetics for characters of color.

-Participates in cultural appropriation by wearing feathers when cosplaying Piper and wearing a hijab when cosplaying Samirah.

-Supports Riordan, tries to defend him, and condones his clearly racist and bigoted actions just cause they ‘like the books’ (if you are straight, white, and/or cishet, I definitely don’t want to see you trying to defend a fifty-five year-old multi-millionaire who is clearly racist, sexist, homophobic, and transphobic).

-Romanticize physical abuse, verbal abuse, mental illnesses and panic/anxiety attacks, etc.

-Ship pedophilic, manipulative, abusive, and wrong relationships.

-Barely allow others to have their own opinions (looking at you Perachel haters) without yelling at, insulting, cursing out, and/or even threatening them for liking or disliking different things than them including ships, characters, books, plots/faults, and Riordan himself.

-Straightwashes characters like shipping Nico with female characters or setting him up with a female character in fanfics.

-Whitewashes characters like drawing Hazel and Piper with eurocentric features, Reyna, Hylla, and Leo with white skin and Caucasian traits, Nico with white/pale skin, etc.

-Try to excuse and explain abusive, manipulative, possessive, and overall very wrong and toxic behavior.

-Fail to recognize and/or admit the toxic, racist, homophobic, sexist, transphobic, wrong, abusive, etc. faults in the books, ships, and characters just cause they like them.

The Percy Jackson franchise does not add good representation. You can still like the series as long as you don’t condone Riordan’s racist and toxic writing and actions and don’t try to ignore the horrible and stereotypical faults just cause you don’t want to admit that your favorite or childhood story is horrible.

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thegreatsuperpowerdebate · 2 years

Note

Hi, can you do a compare and contrast on Sanders Sides vs the Percy Jackson character, and who would win if the characters with similar powers fought?

Alright, we are off to a great start.

I will start by giving each of @thatsthat24 's Sanders Sides characters a Godly Parent that I feel fits them from the seven. For those of you who don't know who the seven are:

Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon

Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena

Jason Grace, son of Jupiter (Zeus)

Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus

Frank Zhang, son of Mars (Aries)

Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite

Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto (Hades)

The Sides Godly Parent

Logan = Athena

Patton = Poseidon

Roman = Zeus

Virgil = Hades

Janus = Aphrodite

Remus = Hephaestus

And Now for the Debate

Let me know in the comments who you think would win.

Logan Vs. Annabeth

~ I feel like mentally they would be fairly equal. But strength-wise, like a swordfight, Annabeth would absolutely slaughter Logan. My reason, Annabeth has been at camp the longest and would already be really good at swordplay. I feel Logan would be overconfident in his abilities and underestimate Annabeth. Since hubris is a fatal flaw of the Athena kids, he would feel that he would be better at fighting because of his knowledge of it. Annabeth in the books had learned how to adapt to her fatal flaw and make it a strength Logan however most likely would hot have completely mastered it. Logan also has a bit of a temper and would get frustrated that he was losing. Annabeth would definitely win

Patton Vs. Percy

Roman Vs. Jason

~ This would be an interesting fight. Depending on the reason for the fight that would depend on the outcome. For Example, in just a plain one on one spare, Percy would hands down win. I think this because I'm not sure Patton would be much of a swordsman. However if Percy would become a threat to the other sides, Patton would destroy Percy. So I would have to say it would be a Tie.

~ I am Sorry but Jason would win this one. Jason I SO overpowered in the books. I actually go another ask about this so I will go more in detail about this in another post. But Roman would Use his powers very ecotisticly where as Jason is like a war soilder mashine. This would give Jason the advantage. I kind of imagine the Jason Roman battle being like this scene in Indiana Jones.

Jason would be Indy. And Roman would be the swordsman doing the extra trash-talking and fluoresces. Jason just doesn't have time for this BS. Along with Jason overpowered stats, Roman Just Doesn't have a chance.

Virgil Vs. Hazel

~ This would be a fun battle to watch. I personally think that Virgil would win. I don't know much about hazel (as of writing this I am currently reading the "Son of Neptune"). Although Hazel appears to be a skilled Swordsman I feel her powers (as of where I am in the book) would not be very useful in this fight. I think Virgil would have lots of powers like Nico. I think Nico would beat Hazel and I feel that Virgil would tie to Nico. So according to the Transitive Property in math, Virgil would beat Hazel. (Side note I think Nico and Virgil would be good friends.)

Janus Vs. Piper

~ I would have to say Janus would win. Although Piper vicious fighter with charm speak. I think that because Janus IS deceit himself would also have a VERY powerful charm speak, and he would definitely use it to his advantage all the time. I am aware that since both Piper and Janus have charm speak, nither of them would be affected by it. However, When Piper fought Medea in the Lost hero, Medea's Charm Speak is superpowerful and Piper was at moments pursuaded by her Charm Speak. In Concultion I still think Janus would win.

Remus Vs. Leo

~ They would not fight. They would immediately become friends the trash the camp with overly complicated handmade pranks.

#rick riordan #sanders sides vs the seven #the prophecy of seven #pjo #heroes of olympus #percy jackon and the olympians #annabeth chase #sanders sides #thomas sanders #thatsthat24 #thegreatsuperpowerdebate #percy jackson

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starlightshadowsworld · 3 years

Text

I don't understand the Prophecy of the seven

The prophecy of the seven isn't new, it's been foretold for years but suddenly its happening now.

Unlike the first Great prophecy, which was pretty self explanatory as to who it was about. Percy was the child of of the eldest God's who reached 16 despite everything going on, saw Manhattan asleep. And Luke's broken promise cursed Annabeth's blade which was used to kill him and Kronos. This being the decision that would either destroy or preserve Olympus.

That's good writing, very Chekovs gun and makes sense. It feels like a complete story.

But the Prophecy of the seven just refers to 7 half bloods. Which could be absolutely anyone, Infact some Roman demigod believed it was him years ago.

And no offence to the seven I love them very much but they are kinda... Eh...

Percy is Percy and also plot.

Annabeth is Annabeth and also plot

Jason is Praetor, son of Jupiter and stuff.

But than you have Piper who's a rich shoplifter without realising it, Frank who yes is a legacy of Poisideon with a cool gift but he's also been decreed to live a short life with it tied to a stick... Soo there's that. Leo who yes has fire powers but he probably maybe traumatised by them, and Hazel who's a cursed Zombie witch.

... Soo not the most promising sounding line up. Especially when you have people who are brand knew to this life with no training. Especially when you have many people who seem more capable like Clarisse.

Honestly just feels like Juno just picked whoever she deemed worthy. Although she did pick em VERY earlier on and even babysat Leo and stuck him in a fire place...

For reasons...? (Also ignoring the ethical stuff he was fireproof soo....why stick him in a fire place?)

Also that means she must've known Percy's parentage if she did have this info... But didn't tell her husband...or anyone that such a thing had happened when to there knowledge Olympus could've been destroyed.

For reasons...?

Also the seven themselves aren't enough to defeat Gaea, Nico and Reyna and play very crucial roles so it's kinda confusing why they weren't included (?)

It honestly just feels like we were given a bunch of hastely thrown together characters and a reason as to why they were important instead of actually allowing us to get to know them, who they are and why they are so important regardless of powers or status...and that because of that they must all get along instead of actually seeing them form bonds and watch em argue over relationships for 5 books...

Wait a sec...

And I gotta say, I love Percy but if he's so amazing and special... And that powerful... Why does he need 5 other demigods (ain't mentioning Annabeth cos she'd be there obviously) to help fight Gaea? At 12 he 1 V 1 Ares... yeah Gaea's a lot stronger than Ares but Percy is very powerful and was actually invincible with the Styx stuff minus that one spot. Could've just added a few godly gifts and streamed that over Hepheastus TV.

Doesn't really make sense why he'd need 5 others to help him. Maybe hold his armour?

But Star they wouldn't be helping him, they are the 7, they are equals in strength and ability and need to unite via the prophecy to defeat Gaea. Percy can't soley defeat Gaea in the same way he couldn't fulfill the last prophecy alone, the reason way the Avengers were formed, they can't defeat her alone because its not enough. It needs to be all of them working together, chosen because they've proven themselves prior to be apart of this. Because they are the strongest demigods of their generation and the fate of the world depends on them.

Said no one...

Well... Cept me cos I did just now.

And if it was said it was most certainly not executed that way. HOO is essentially Percy, Annabeth and... These side kicks.

Haven't even mentioned the whole, no one not even the characters knew who was "to storm of fire the world will fall" "oath to keep with a final breathe" and than Leo is somehow both and dies?

But he doesn't?

And finds a girl friend... Least the series ended with what was the most pressing thing for it.

Anyway now I'm imagining 12 year old Percy to go waltzing into a McDonald's car park to go beat up Gaea...

Also also actually actually... Gaea kills Leo's mum but than doesn't do anything after till HOO? She can do that but giving someone a papercut or a minor injury to get blood from them is too much for her, I get that she's asleep but okay.

Anyway I'm done ranting now 😂 I love HOO but man is it confusing.

#Percy Jackson #annabeth chase #jason grace #piper mclean #hazel levesque #frank zhang #leo valdez #nico di angelo #reyna avila ramirez arellano #heroes of olympus

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outoftimewriting · 4 years

Text

Imagine (Son of Hades! Percy; Godswapped! Big Three's kids (6/7) or (11/12)

House of Hades Pt.2 - In the Argo II

Hello darlings! Before reading this, there's at least other 11 parts - and I almost had to divide this into two - check on the masterpost - but don't be sad is ending :(

First - I have no idea if I'll divide Blood of Olympus in two because I hate the climax Rick wrote - so probably? Also not sure if I'll need an epilogue - we're not delving into TOA, though.

Second - I'll keep writing! I have a handful of ideas that I want to do next - and the next AU will have Female! Percy - so keep logging in!

Check on the warnings before proceeding, and good reading :))

To say that things are tense in the Argo II is downplaying the major depression the ship seemed to be sunk in since Perseus fell.

Leo and, surprisingly, Nico are the only ones who are able to get anything done in the first couple of days, but they aren't fooling anyone - the white eyes of the son of Zeus seem to be every day a little more bloodshot, and more than one fire happens without no explanation.

Annabeth didn't stop crying for a second - even throughout Will's examination of her and her brother - for at least 12 hours. Then she crashed for another 12 hours - and when Annabeth woke up, she was enraged.

She is going to bring the damned statue back to Camp - and then she will kick her mother's ass. That's her best friend, not collateral damage.

And when her dumbass of a best friend comes back, Annabeth is going to kick his ass too. How dare he fall - for her, not even his closest friend - into freaking Tartarus?

Frank is devastated - he and Piper are coping by planning the future - how they can spend the summer at Camp and live in Nova Roma, how they'll visit Perseus if he decides to go to college in the mortal world. It feels a little like denial.

Hazel and Jason are coping in the totally opposite way. Where Leo and Nico are fueling themselves with determination, Annabeth is anger personified and the other two went in the road of negation - they're both in a deep state of panic.

The sea became too dangerous to travel - the tides answering to Jason's turbulent emotions - and any metal on board keeps exploding or becoming so fueled with energy that no one but Nico and Hazel can touch it.

They pray together - for Neptune, Jupiter, Pluto, Letum, any god that Perseus ever helped (a lot of them) - for his protection. Jason holds evening prayers - just like in Nova Roma - and they offer anything, everything, for Percy to be alive. Everyone goes.

Except for Will, who is in a whole other league. The moment that he arrived at Camp, Percy was the one to settle him, and calm him, and take care of him. It was a side of him no other person in this ship had ever seen - Nico got in Camp in the worst timing possible, and all the others were pretty independent when they met Perseus.

But Will remembers - the nights with hot chocolate, Percy's warm sweaters, a pair of blue gloves messing his hair, the anxiety when the boy left for school, just for him to keep IMing Will every evening - and he misses Percy.

After the Labyrinth, the war, the losses, they reconnected - the prejudices against Percy's parentage long gone - and it felt like nothing ever changed.

It was Percy who helped him coming out for his mother. It was Percy that held Will after he lost Sibele - a daughter of Momus - to her injuries. It was Percy, always Percy.

Percy is much more of a father then Apollo - and much better as a brother then some of Will's siblings. So Will just locks himself up in his infirmary - and grieves. It's weird in such a hard mission to remember that Will is just fifteen and that he is a veteran of war.

The mood lingers, even when they start fighting regularly against the Apennines - and isn't this a whole other mess.

The mountain spirits are pissed - because Hades/Pluto and his wife are really pissed. It's Malcolm - the only one with a phone and a good connection to the internet - that tells them that the world started having earthquakes every few days.

The mortals are confused because most of these are not even close to the tectonic plates - and none of those cause turmoil at the sea. It's just Hades - mightly pissed his only son is beyond even his reach.

Three days in fighting the Ourae - who don't like having their mountains shaken over and over again - the sky also starts thundering. Coincidentally, it's July 30th - they've been traveling for twenty-two days - which also marks Thesmophoria - the greek festival of harvest.

But, alas, nothing is blooming. Persephone is as dangerous as her husband - and Demeter seems to follow her daughter's lead. With the Earth corrupted - the crops aren't growing.

Jason doesn't blame his matron - he is not really happy himself. Besides praying for Perseus' safety, he spends most of his days in patrol against boulders and rocks of all things.

Leo barely sleeps - too busy keeping the ship from falling apart - and Nico is, most of the time, right behind him keeping the ship steady. They try using canons and fail miserably. There's no way to fight against mountains - it's like Dom Quixote fighting against the windmills.

The others, even Will, rotate between fighting rocks and sleeping. Four days after Thesmophoria, Leo decides it's enough, turns the ship around, and solves to not cross the Apennines.

He just hopes Perseus can last another seven days.

Hazel - the only one awake, because this is supposed to be her patrol and Leo finds her the most reasonable out of all their friends, who would probably insist on keep fighting the freaking mountains - is praying. Like always.

Leo doesn't know how he feels about praying. His extended family was very catholic - they prayed for a god that they couldn't see or touch. But Leo met the gods - or, if Annabeth is to be believed, one set of them - and he doesn't like them.

They're petty children who have no care for the fate of their children - the ones who fight for them, go on their errands, keep them alive, y'know. Leo doesn't want to praise them. He doesn't think they deserve it.

But Hazel's prayers are answered when her venti, Tempest, appears aboard. Hazel tells Leo to go on without her - she'll be back soon.

He is concerned for her - like always. Of all new people, Leo seems to be the closest to her - his overall cheeriness and electric behavior are endearing to her, a light in these dark times. Sometimes, his smile makes her flush - just like Frank's did and still does.

Hazel mounts Tempest and the venti takes her, through mountains and hills, to a door. There's mist curling at her ankles and a chill in her spine.

She isn't very thrilled by meeting Trivia - Hazel heard stories of her greek son by Perseus, who seemed to hold the guy in high standard, but she knows gods. The goddess of magic wants something.

Trivia is an imposing woman - taller than Hazel, she has the same midnight skin as Perseus, though hers looks purple-ish, and her eyes are entire universes - stars bloom in her irises and twin moons rise in her pupils.

The goddess is fickle - she seems to be there and not, at the same time. Ghostly. There's three of them, then one, then five.

Trivia beacons to the daughter of Jupiter and she follows, the cursed little girl she is. The goddess offers her three options: Perseus, prone in the ground as she, Leo, and Annabeth battle an invisible foe, the two demigod installments at war, or the Argo II.

Hazel chooses the Argo II, but she promises herself, and the goddess, that she will save Perseus, and that no demigod blood will be spilled by other demigod's hand. Not again.

She will learn how to control the Mist. But Trivia is very mistaken if she thinks Hazel is going to become her acolyte. She remembers well what happened last time - she died.

The Argo II is traveling without much hassle - when they're crossing Monte Falterona, in the Campigna National Park, they are attacked by a new mountain spirit - and this one talks.

"Get Pluto his brat back, you useless halflings!"

Like the boulders the immortal is throwing at them will help. Leo screams this back at the mountain, who is not impressed at all.

Their next foe is in San Marino - a chimera. Most popular knowledge is wrong about those monsters: chimeras are not just goat-lion-snake mixes. They are an amalgamation of any three or more animals.

This one, in particular, is a very... candid mix of a Pyrenean chamois, a monk-seal, a mouflon, and a goose. Not very lethal or hazardous - just very angry. It's the first time they hear Annabeth laugh since Perseus fell.

While Malcolm is chasing and being chased around by an evil goat-goose-seal-weirdass deer chimera that he is fending off with an encyclopedia, the others can't even bring themselves to help. It's ridiculous - the thing is not even big. It's just ugly and it sounds like a honking clown.

Eventually, they get around to killing the clown chimera - it honks as it vanishes - and following route to Bologna. Frank tries to mutate to the chimera during the travel - to different levels of failure - which makes everyone laugh.

Thanks to their two encounters, the crew gets to Bologna at two in the afternoon.

Frank can't help counting the days as they pass him by. He is not the only one - he can see Annabeth muttering the time every now and then - but it feels like a countdown. Can Perseus survive one more week in Tartarus?

Even with the pressing worry for his lost friend, he can't stop thinking about Hazel and Leo. The two of them are thick as thieves - and Frank wants in.

But he knows it's wrong - Leo is a boy. Hazel is younger. Leo bares a power that could kill him. Hazel is his best friend. They're two people. - but he sees them flirting and can't keep his eyes to himself.

It's wrong. Soldiers aren't supposed to date men. Men who dated men are prostitutes, entertainers. Less. And two people at the same time? Outside of a bedroom? Preposterous.

Frank wishes he was more like Perseus. Perseus is all about duty: he would eventually marry Reyna. Or Annabeth, or other pretty and intelligent warrior, and have two point five kids with a picket fence.

But no. Here he is - midday, they are stopping for lunch, and he can't keep his eyes off Leo and Hazel - who are quietly chatting in the other end of the long table.

Frank ponders what would they think. Would the two be repulsed? Would they laugh at him? He can deal with laughter. Their disgust, however, would cut his heart in half.

Nico is in a very similar, and yet completely different, situation. He has been in love - or as close as love could be when you never dated the person - with Perseus Jackson.

He knows it's okay to be gay - he is friends with Will and Jake. He lives on CHB since he was a pre-teen. Perseus himself was - is - queer.

But the thing is, he'll never have a chance with him. Not the chance he is longing for gods know how long. He failed Perseus yet again - he let the demigod fall.

Perseus can have anyone. Perfect Annabeth Chase, Shrewd Reyna Arellano, Magic Alabaster Torrington, anyone. And he wouldn't have a problem with that - no. The problem is that he can't make a choice. Because he is in Tartarus.

Because Nico. Let. Him. Fall.

He isn't even sure if he let Perseus fall on purpose. A part of his mind knew someone would have to go. It was always meant to be Perseus. Did he purposefully let him go?

The rational part of his mind knew that if he tried to fly them off, all he would accomplish is falling into Tartarus with Perseus, probably dragging Annabeth with them.

But the guilt creeps into his heart - again, yet again, Perseus suffers for something he did or failed to do. He can't sleep. He doesn't know how anyone can eat.

A rock for him in these difficult times has been Jason. The son of Neptune seems to be as affected as Hazel or Annabeth - but Nico would never be able to rely on them.

Hazel has her own problems - a lot of them since Trivia appeared - and Annabeth is a painful reminder of everything Nico is unable to have.

Jason, however, is different. They had dreams of each other - something about their conquests, Nico didn't pay attention - and that apparently brought them close. Jason, differently from Annabeth, isn't a competition. He isn't vying for Percy's attention and love.

He is just a close friend - like Nico pretends to be most of the time - incredibly worried about the son of Hades. Nico would tell Jason about how he feels - but the militar roman's sensibilities might not be adjusted to the greeks' freedom yet.

Nico, however, is also not the only one with heart problems. Piper finds himself entranced by Annabeth Chase - even when she knows, she knows because of her powers, that Annabeth is painfully straight.

And Piper knows it's not love - it's the heat of the upcoming war and the hormones of being cooped up with just other teenagers for twenty days. She sees the blossoms of young lovers everywhere.

The yearning between Leo, Hazel, and Frank; Nico and Jason unconsciously sharing long-term crushes on Perseus; Will missing Jake and his parental figure;

She wishes she was more like Malcolm. Malcolm is asexual - besides being the only other transexual person on board.

Before this war spiked from nothing, the boy was just back from his mission for Hermaphroditus - a two-month search for a missing choker. He is still adapting to his body - it's bigger and broader and he doesn't have to wear a binder. Piper thinks it's amazing - he tells her it isn't that easy.

It's not a slow transition. One second your body is something - and then it isn't. One morning, the demigod caught him holding a red binder in his hands. Sometimes, she sees a shot of testosterone tucked in his pocket.

One day, he was a boy stuck in a girl's body. Then, he wasn't anymore. He has the body he dreamed of for forever - and it's difficult accepting it. Malcolm tells her is not exactly body dysphoria - is just difficult to conciliate.

Piper thinks after this, she'll get her body. After all of this, she deserves it - her body, all hers, with boobs and a killer jawline. Maybe then, it'll be easier to like girls as well. Maybe then, she'll shave half of her head and get a piercing. And maybe, a couple of tattoos.

But while this doesn't happen, she is whining to her asexual friend about her crush in his sister. Malcolm crushes her with logic - "Annabeth has only shown interest in men. She might be bi or pan or even a lesbian, but the odds aren't on your favor" - and she tries to put the blonde out of her mind.

Lunch, however, is a little ridiculous for her. As a daughter of love herself, that table is such a mess of yearning and pining and infatuations.

Malcolm seems to be the only rational - but even he is a little flushed. Piper totally saw that picture of Mitchell in his drawer last week.

She couldn't blame him really - her brother is hot. All demigods are - in very different ways of course, but their godly blood made them more or less otherworldly compared to mortals. Didn't matter their ethnicity, their gender, if they're disabled or not - they are all hot.

Piper, however, doesn't spend all her time freaking over hot people. She is a teenager with a friend who has a good connection to the internet, so she does that a lot - but most of her time these days is looking at Katoptris.

She's waiting for a vision of Perseus. Anything - just proof that he is alive, that he hasn't curled in a ball on whatever is the ground down there and went mad.

It doesn't come. She is looking at this ridiculous lunch table, eating vegetarian burgers, and waiting. Just as it seems like her dagger starts glowing gold - two monkey twins sweep down and steal it. And Leo's tool belt and Archimedes' Sphere.

Piper is really pissed. She wants this mission to end - she wants to find Perseus and stop Gaea, and that's her magical item. It's important. So she and Leo go after the twin monkeys.

Using one of the armory's javelin - for lack of a better option - they sprint over roofs and marketplaces. Bologna is a beautiful city - but they have no time.

They corner the twin monkeys, get their things back - and some things pertaining to a god of harvest - Triptolemus. Perhaps if they make an offer to him, Demeter and Persephone will be more cooperative. Maybe Persephone will be able to calm her husband.

Piper really doubts it. If she learned anything in the nineteen days she traveled with Perseus, is that he calls Persephone "Kore" or "Mater". The only other person he refers to with such open childish joy is his own mother, Sally.

The guy IMed both of them twice a week - enough that Piper knows their voices. While Hades isn't high in the demigod's list of people, his wife seemed to be at least number #2.

But they go back to the ship and relay their plan anyway. They set route to Venice. In the hour that it takes them to get there, they're delayed twice: once by the personification of River Ádige - which enabled them to pass until Jason helped with a small problem - and then by a couple of ventis - which Hazel sent off.

Frank, Annabeth, Hazel and Nico venture into the drowned city - Piper declines to go, saying that she is waiting for Katoptris to cooperate - being Nico the only one who actually speaks Italian in the ship.

The city is infested with anteater-like herbivorous monsters called katoplebones, which are pointedly not from the Greek pantheon. It's pretty rare for monsters to cross pantheons - and the Egyptians are pretty good in keeping them under lock and key - but sometimes, this happens.

They aren't capacitated to deal with those. Annabeth has half a mind to call the Kanes and demand an explanation. Pretty sure they were possessed by the gods to avoid this kind of situation.

She doesn't have much time to think - Hazel is quickly overwhelmed by the poisonous breath of the cows. Of course - is there anything in Egypt that isn't connected to snakes?

They find Triptolemus - who is not thrilled with their presence. Demeter - his mistress - and her daughter are distraught by Perseus' missing status - and he blames Annabeth and Nico for it.

Annabeth tries to persuade him - after all, they have Jason on board, and he is blessed by Ceres. Triptolemus - a very greek god - is not swayed.

"Your trickster words shall not fool me, daughter of Athena."

That's how Annabeth became a rosemary bush - good for memory and brainpower. Nico, when he tried to fight back, became a corn crop.

Mars is whispering in Frank's mind - he is not really fond of his father but uses his help to kill the evil Egyptian cows and get a python for the god's chariot.

He can't let Hazel die. He can't see the light go off her eyes - to see the same pain reflected in Leo's eyes. But Frank is so using Nico's stunt as a corn plant as blackmail material later. Not with Annabeth thought - she would stab him.

Triptolemus, pleased, turns Nico and Annabeth back to human and heals Hazel. Then, he tells them they have to eat barley cakes - so they can survive the poison needed to enter the house of the dead.

Proceeding south down the Adriatic toward Greece, a journey that should take about half a day, the crew of the Argo II is first accosted in Koper - a city on the coast of Slovenia - by four monocerus in the middle of the night.

Monocerus, in Leo's very succinct explanation, are "evil unicorns with big feet that can't fly and shouldn't be in a flying ship".

Whoever, the monsters apparently don't care where they should or not be - and Annabeth - still reeling for her time as rosemary - takes two of them out, keeping the horns as a prize. Nico takes one, who is so beat that leaves nothing, and Malcolm kills one with a handgun.

It's not the most practical weapon, because celestial bronze is not that easy to fabricate/find/obtain - so to use it in bullets that will explode and render it unusable it's kind of a desperate - but it's the first thing he could get - Malcolm's double tessen was being repaired by Leo.

Because yes - not only was the twenty years old able to fight with normal blades, he also fights with freaking fans made of iron.

After the run-in with the evil unicorns - Annabeth looks really cool covered in gold blood and curved silver horns in her hands - they proceed across Croatia.

It goes well for about thirty minutes - in Zadar, they cross paths with Sciron. Sciron is a bandit and outlaw, who - for some reason, is assisted by a giant predatory sea turtle.

While Hazel tricks him into throwing himself off the cliff using her new-discovered Mist, Jason talks to the turtle. It says its name is Chelone - that it's the turtle who took Aphrodite Ourania from the depths of the sea to the shores of Cythera - when she was still young, with remains of other goddesses in her anima - Innana and Ishtar.

He convinces the turtle to stop killing people - mainly by saying that he should hunt elsewhere, deeper onto the sea. It may become a problem for his father, but Jason has bigger issues right now.

They go to sleep, and Hazel dreams. She expects any god to come - but who comes to her is none other than Pluto and his wife, Proserpina.

Proserpina is shrouded in black, and her eyes are not green - but yellowish, like dead leaves. She talks - and tells Hazel that the Doors of Death are in the bottom of the Necromanteion - her powers over metal energy would guide her - and will be guarded by Pasiphae, vengeful of Pluto - and, by default, Perseus - for the lack of punishment for Minos.

Her husband is a silent presence by her side. He is not in mourning... probably. It's difficult to tell, as he is always in black. But his eyes hold a weight easy for Hazel to understand - he just lost a son to the abyss. No matter that Perseus might be alive - he wouldn't get back whole and safe.

Proserpina ends her dream by telling her to wake up Piper - the goddess is putting all her strength to send a vision of Perseus to Katoptris - they need one much more than her, seeing that they are able to interfere.

What Piper sees don't tell them a lot - Perseus seems mostly okay, with some sort of companion that Nico says it might be Iapetus, a brand new scar over his face and a bad limp.

It's the last they'll see of him until their eventual meeting face to face, but it gives them hope.

Annabeth herself has a dream - a dream that the Romans give the statue to the greeks. She sends an iris message to Rachel - so she can meet personally with Reyna.

Reyna, on the other side of the world, mounts her pegasus, Scipio, and leaves. Not only her co-praetor is in freaking Tartarus, but they are on the verge of two simultaneous wars. They need peace.

As soon as she is out of the roman range, however, she sends an iris message to Jason - telling him to go to their hero's place of rest - she had a vision from Mars. That she will meet them in Greece. Jason tells Leo to set course for Split, in Croatia. There's a roman scepter there.

Of all of them, the most capacitated for this mission are Frank and Jason, who are both educated Romans, and Nico, who can fly - a very good power to have in unstable ruins.

They're confronted by Favonious, who takes them to his master, Cupid, in Dalmatia. Nothing good can come of talking to the personification of love - such an old concept that the god has been reborn twice.

"Well, well, well"

"What do we have here?"

Jason falls onto the ground - "You think you found true love, haven't you? But alas, I was where you last expected me" - and he hates love, for that single moment.

"I shall give you what you want, Romans, if each of you is able to tell me - who do you love the most?"

Nico trembles - guilt is a difficult pill to swallow - and Frank visibly wants to bolt out of there.

"Oh, are you afraid? But there's no hiding in the face of true love"

Jason - always the brave one - gives a look at Frank. His friend never met the greeks. He might hate Jason after this.

But they need this scepter.

"Perseus Jackson"

Two heads whips in his direction - one unbelievingly, and the other distressed.

"Ah, love crafted in dreams - the perfect mix between me and my wife. Tell me, Jason Grace, was it bad when he looked upon you and saw naught but a myth?"

A laugh creeps upon Jason's spine, and he turns around. His blade hits something hard, and he is on the floor again.

"Such luck, to be able to even graze love. Perhaps yours is the purest of all - not yet tainted by failures and mistakes. On that note, why don't you go next, Nico di Angelo?"

Nico shivers - he... they have no time for that. That is unnecessary drama - to cause unnecessary problems.

A memory rushes to the front of Jason's mind - that quick chat with Reyna in Nova Roma. "The blond girl, Di Angelo"

Nico loves Perseus. It rushes to Jason now - the way that the younger boy stared adoringly at the son of Hades. The drunkness of his lovesick gaze. The despair when Perseus fell.

"Tell them Nico di Angelo" Cupid prompts "Tell them all about your guilt, your mistakes, the way you let him down, again and again, and again."

Nico floats a little off the ground. It's years of pain and sorrow that won't bring Perseus back.

"Will you fly off yet again, in the face of rivalry? Will you be my next servant - just like Favonious, consumed by jealousy, Nico di Angelo?"

Jason sees the memories. Nico screaming at Perseus. Grover reluctantly telling him about their adventures. The way he betrayed Percy - and a dozen more scenes he never saw from Nico's perspective, only Percy's, that made him unable to speak.

"It's okay Nico... I.... I get it."

It's painful to utter these words - it's almost like he is giving up Perseus. But they have a war to get through - and then, when the other demigod is back, they can figure this out.

"P-Perseus Jackson"

And then it's Frank's turn. But Frank is as pale as a ghost - he seems to be close to vomiting.

"It's a costly thing isn't it, looking at the true face of love. Now it's the turn of the brave son of Mars. Will you tell your friends easily, or shall you be a coward like the son of Zeus?"

Frank doesn't talk. Jason doesn't understand why - it's Hazel, isn't it? Is it because of Nico? He mentions talking to the son of Zeus, but Di Angelo doesn't look at him - the Cupid knew very well how to play his game.

"Come on. Tell them - tell them of whom you think before you sleep and who dominates your first thoughts every morning."

"You don't scare me"

"Oh, I scare you very, very much. Face me. Be honest."

"H-Hazel. Levesque."

"That's just half my question, little half-blood. If you want to lead the roman legions, you must answer it fully."

"I love H-Hazel. She is the one I think before I sleep and when I wake up."

"Still hiding. You're not strong enough, Frank Zhang."

Frank tries to charge at the wind, but it just mocks him. It's weird seeing Frank crying - it looks like the world is crumbling at his feet.

Jason, yet again, doesn't understand. Nico is also confused - he looks between the Romans as if he never saw any of them before. But then it dawns on the son of Zeus.

"Not only my sister. That's why you keep gazing at them, isn't it?"

All the fighting and denial leave Frank at once. His sword clangs in the ground.

"I love both Hazel and Leo. Together." He spits out, still trembling. "That's the truth. Are you happy now?"

"I wouldn't say Love always makes you happy. It can make you incredibly sad, sometimes. But you have faced it now. It's the only true way to conquer me."

Cupid appears - in a flash of white wings. It might be the god Jason hates the most - his eyes seem to penetrate his very soul. There's a scepter in his hand.

"Only a true child of Mars Ultor can yield it. It's your destiny, Frank Zhang."

Then he promptly disappears. The demigods look at each other - there's a flurry of emotions deep inside their chests. Frank looked at both of them, waiting for an attack, or for them to start fighting.

"No one has to know" He starts "I'm s-so-..."

He doesn't end. There are copious tears rolling through his face - his cheeks are a deep shade of red. A sob escapes his throat.

"P-please, p-pleased-don't t-te-tell anyone." Frank sobs, and it's such a jarring sight that both Nico and Jason rally to reassure him, leaving their own issues aside.

"There's nothing wrong with loving two people at once. No one will have a problem with it, Frank - fuck, this isn't Nova Roma. Most of us are greek."

"Hazel would hate me though. This is unnatural- I- I can't."

"You don't know that. Hazel loves you, Frank"

But the son of Mars just keeps crying until they both promise not to tell another soul what they saw. It's enough for the weird atmosphere to return.

Midway in the trek back to the ship - a six-hour walk - Nico is too riled up to safely fly with two people and none of them being too fond of air right now - Frank summons enough power to ask the question.

"So... uh... hm... Perseus?... like, uh, I can see the appeal-... but... both?... forget I asked, just....uh oh, sorry."

Jason and Nico pointedly avoid looking at each other. It's very bizarre - Jason knows a lot about Perseus, but now he knows Perseus also from Nico's perspective - and this is all messy.

They go back to the ship, relay to Annabeth that they got the scepter, and immediately go back to their cabins - to cry, to scream, to think.

It's been a day and a half - and they're still eleven hours off Epirus. Leo is pissed - because not only their three heavy-hitters are pissed at something and won't communicate, and they're of course.

Emerging from the infirmary for something other than to eat and mend people is finally Will - at least. He takes patrol in place of Nico - the boy quietly mumbled at his friend that they had a run-in with Cupid. Will can imagine how that went.

He doesn't have a clue about Frank - but Jason and Nico? They have the same long-lasting crush on Perseus - everyone on board knows that. Except, apparently, for each other. And Perseus - because his mentor/kind of brother/bother figure is a dumbass.

When they're passing through the coast of Albany, they're attacked by Khione - who is still very pissed her ex-lover's son doesn't want to spend eternity frozen with her. Leo ends up being sent away - for the distress of both Hazel and Frank and the anger of his best friends, Piper and Jason.

Piper ends up stabbing Khione - while Frank transforms into the giant dragon and burns her - making her unable to freeze them. Eventually, she runs away.

Leo, however, wakes up on an island. There's a sad girl at his side - she is using a modern blue dress, and there's a crown of black flowers upon her head.

"You were not the one I was expecting."

The son of Hephaestus wants to scream. Well, he didn't want to be whatever here is either! But her face is so sad - her gaze down to her bare feet. She seemed to be crying. He settles for asking who is her.

"I... I am sorry. My name is Calypso. This is Ogygia."

It startles him. Mainly because he has heard this name before around camp - wasn't she supposed to be freed?

"What happened to you?"

The immortal girl relays her tale - how she got freed for a year, and then the war started. The gods - Zeus - didn't trust her not to turn against them. So they locked her up - she was not the only one. Leto, Themis, Rhea - good titans or their offspring. Locked away.

She, after a year of freedom that Perseus got her, was back into her old shackles. Calypso is waiting for him for months now - but she thinks he forgot her.

So Leo tells her what happened - the bits he knows anyway. Juno/Hera, Nova Roma, the mission. Calypso seems calmer. They stay together for a while - friends it seems.

Calypso tells him about her year - about how she wanted to explore the world. She tells him she wanted to join Artemis' hunt - but, courtesy of Odysseys, she is no maiden.

He tells her about Hazel and Frank, Perseus, and the love hexagons he doesn't even know he is in - omitting the part that he is now in Tartarus. They talk about Festus - Calypso tells him about how his father is good to hear - how he came to visit, sometimes.

A week passes, maybe a week and a half. Leo vows to take Calypso off the island once the war ends, and she believes - once, a hero as brave as Leo made her the same promise, and stuck with it through the end.

In Cancun, Africa, Jason and Nico are having daily audiences with Auster, the Roman god of the south wind, in connection with the Seven being able to proceed on their way to Epirus - seeing that their ship is all broken and they have no Leo.

Auster is indolent and seems increasingly disinclined to cooperate with Jason and Nico: he dislikes the son of Zeus, and the wind never had a good relationship with the sea. Annabeth also tries her hand at it - but it's rebuffed at every turn. Piper is prohibited from entering the palace because of her magic voice.

Jason and Nico - even though they aren't speaking to each other - have for a long time admitted they don't fit completely at either camp. Jason is still too militar for CHB. Nico is too old for CHB. Both are too free with their personal lives for Nova Roma.

Auster agrees to meet with them and tells them to commit to one side - greek or roman. They deny it - they're both. The gods are both, they have been thrust in a war of both sides, they commune with gods on both aspects and they ask them to run errands for both pantheons. They have the right to be both.

Auster is not happy with this - mainly because he believes they should keep the sides separated. But it's the first time Nico and Jason agree on something - and they fight together for it. No god has the right to define those petty things when the demigods are fighting their war.

Auster merges with his greek counterpart Notus - an amalgamation of both his carefree and his militar side - and sends The Seven on their way when coerced by the threat of a hurricane and a typhoon.

He sends them to Valletta, Malta, where they find the Argo II fully repaired and in the harbor. In the port, on a small cafe, there's Leo - sitting and raging internally against the gods, who once again, fucked up something.

They trade stories, and Leo just rages more. He isn't sure how Perseus didn't ally himself with Kronos in the first war if that was the bullshit he had to deal with every day.

First Khione, then Zeus locking Calypso up, then this Notus guy - they are a week and a half late. Is Perseus still alive after nineteen days in the Pit? Is he sane? Did he tried to get out - and they weren't there?

It's with a shocking gasp from Annabeth that they realize that Perseus's birthday is in three days. They have been traveling together for thirty-seven days now - and they have to get Perseus out of Tartarus before the 18th, at least. Is the minimum.

It takes them a day to get to Epirus. There are enough monsters in their way to start a menagerie - Gaea is actively trying to stall them, so there must be a reason. Perseus might be alive.

Arriving at the Necromanteion, which they learn is just a very fancy name for catacombs, Hazel, Frank, Leo, Annabeth, Will, and Piper descend into the ruins, leaving Nico and Jason - who are both completely useless under the earth - behind with Malcolm - who, since Arachne, is pretty much claustrophobic.

They eat the barley cakes to protect themselves against the toxic potion they must drink in order to enter the temple. It's difficult to swallow poison - it burns as it goes down.

The mist tries to confuse them at every turn - Hazel diverts it. Her power over metal energy guides them - she can feel the basis of the building, way down where they are.

Katoptris burns in Piper's hand. It shows her Perseus' face - he looks cadaveric, shrouded in death. Sometimes he flickers, like a ghost - but he is alive, and heading to the Doors just like they are.

It's enough to spur them forward. Perseus is doing the same journey - from a much difficult side. They will meet in the middle.

Earthquakes strike the caverns, making part of the floor collapse. In a side, Piper and Will, surrounded by monsters in all sides. In the other, Frank, Leo, Hazel and Annabeth. The son of Mars doesn't think twice - the scepter.

He uses the Scepter of Diocletian to summon ghostly Roman soldiers, and as a Legatus Legionis, he does have the power to command all of them. It would be more controlled if he was Praetor, but the actual Praetor is Perseus, and so, in his absence, Frank will have to do.

The tunnel collapses. Hazel. Leo. They might be dead - but Frank can't panic right now. They are alive. They will protect each other, they have Annabeth Chase with them. Hazel controls the mist - everything will be just fine.

Anger grew in his chest. Those are his friends, his... his loved ones. This freaking ruin don't get to kill them before Frank summons enough courage to submit himself to the ridiculousness of telling them.

Hazel wants to cry - they left Frank behind. He might be dead - they might be all dead. Leo isn't much better. For all that Zhang seems to hate him, his infatuation with the Canadian never disappeared.

Annabeth however, is practical. She tells them Frank will be fine - the guy can transform into a dragon. Or a chimera. Probably a poisonous one, after the stunt in Venice. He has an army - it's okay.

Pasiphae is a bitch. Leo hates the woman - she reminds him of Aunt Rosa. Or Juno. Or Lady Muddy herself. He and Annabeth let Hazel do the majority of the talking - but both of them bristle as the Doors shake.

An unauthorized presence. Perseus actually did it - they have twelve minutes, in accord to Annabeth - who Leo knows better than to doubt - to open the Doors. Or he is dead, lost forever.

"It's a pity Gaea needs a son of the Earth and a daughter of the Sea... But none of you are children of the Underworld or the ocean, are you? Not even the acolyte of Trivia."

Everything indicates that she'll open the door herself - but Annabeth can't risk she whisking Perseus away to Gaea before they can reach him. So she sneaks past with her cap while they fight.

Pasiphae goes down to Hazel's illusions. Annabeth opens the Doors, before cutting the chains as Hazel and Leo distract Clytius. Perseus stumbles out, a giant tiger in his heels.

Leo didn't think he would ever see a harsher picture. The tall boy was still muscular - but gaunt as if he hadn't eaten since the fall. There were scars everywhere.

He couldn't look more - Clytius is threatening Perseus, but both Annabeth and the tiger stay in his way. Trivia appears - but they aren't truly winning until Piper, Will, and Frank are able to reach them through Hazel's magic.

Will goes immediately to Perseus' side - there's panic in his eyes. Leo can't see much this far - he hopes the son of Hades isn't dead. Piper and Frank fight alongside them. Annabeth is still hovering protectively over her best friend's prone body.

There's not much need for help - between Hazel and Trivia, the bulk of Clytius powers are unusable. The shared power of Piper (love is never where you expect it), Frank (and his undead soldiers), a very angry Annabeth, and Leo is just overkill.

They win. Will is feeding Perseus ambrosia - there's something really wrong because there are tear tracks in the blonde's face. Leo comes closer - their friends follow.

Perseus is destroyed. He looks like he has been through hell - there's a scar crossing his face and his eyes are sunken in. But that's not where it stops.

Leo's gaze goes down, to the ragged clothes that are barely recognizable - the sweatpants he was convinced to wear to go underground, the once-green sweater - and sees what is missing.

Where Perseus' leg once was, there's a metal one. The boy is curled in the fetal position - his metal leg sticks out like a sore thumb, and it looks like he might cry if he wasn't so dehydrated. The tiger nudges its head against the boy's leg and growls at them, but it doesn't attack.

"I... I can't touch him. I touched him and he started panicking... I... We have to take him back to the ship. He is stable, but..."

Frank picks up Perseus in a bride-carry - a month ago, he wouldn't be able to do it. But now, he is stronger - and Perseus must weight ninety pounds wet.

The tiger follows - when they cross to the daylight, they can see it's not a normal tiger. Annabeth - with a distraught look in her face - tells them it's a skeleton tiger. Probably a saber-tooth.

They go back on board - Piper goes up to call Nico, so he can fly Perseus into the ship. He does, but the expression in his face is so crushing Leo almost wishes they had delayed it by destroying property and landing the ship on the street.

The mood of the ship is yet again somber. No one wants to leave the infirmary - but Will forces them to rotate, so as to not overwhelm Perseus. Hypocrite - he is living in there.

Leo, Malcolm, and Piper - the least close to Percy, even though they are friends - let the others take the bulk of the shifts. Annabeth, Nico, and Jason almost get into blows about it - she wins on the fact that she knows Perseus longer.

It's difficult to IM both Rachel - who is a minute away from depression since he fell - and Lady Persephone. It's even harder to tell Sally - they leave the task to Annabeth.

They harbor for two days, waiting for Reyna. She appears from the sky during dinnertime - her horse has to be euthanized almost immediately after a run with the spirit mountains.

They talk - and end up deciding that she will take the statue back to Camp with Malcolm, the most resourceful out of them. Percy would be the logical solution - taking him out of Gaea's reach - but the son of Hades would probably be unable to shadow travel so soon.

While this happens, the others will set course to Athens - to stop Gaea and destroy the Giants. For now, they eat.

Midway through their meal, Will comes into the board - everyone knows what it means. Perseus is awake - on his birthday to boot. They take their food to the infirmary - to see the boy looking at the ceiling.

He gives them a faint smile, but no one misses the way he curls into himself any time there's someone a little too close. Perseus relays his tale - it's heavily edited, Annabeth can tell.

But he tells them about the leg - but not how he lost it - about the tiger - the name is Small Bob, but he doesn't talk about Bob - and about the firewater - but not how he got the injuries.

Small Bob never leaves Perseus's side. The demigod insists that he wants to go outside - he ate enough ambrosia and drank enough nectar that even some of his scars are gone. Not the one in his face though. Will let him go - but Annabeth thinks that he just asked out of courtesy.

He doesn't have green eyes anymore - they darkened to a point they can't distinguish his pupil. They observe as he sits calmly in the deck, metal leg sticking out, and strokes the head of the tiger, who is acting more or less like a giant house cat.

None of them miss the tracks of tears across his face, or the look he gives the night sky - it's bittersweet.

"Bob says hello"

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sonofsallyjackson · 4 years

Text

Heroes of Olympus should have been in first-person.

@jo-march-is-a-lesbian wrote a really wonderful post about how “Percy Jackson and the Olympians is better than Heroes of Olympus…because it understood simplicity and character development.” It highlights some reasons I also found HoO less rewarding namely that it was an overcomplicated story with limited character growth, lacked a common thesis, and was super jarring when it switched perspectives.

And with that my little brain went: I can fix this. Which frankly is ridiculous. I can’t come up with a compelling thesis like “The idea that we should place our hope in our loved ones, our friends and our family, and if we do that, we won’t be tempted to give up hope again.” But I can imagine a simple change that would have solved some of the issues and also played to Rick’s strengths as a writer: Each book should have been written in first person and narrated by a different character.

With so many people on the quest, I often felt like I was watching a bunch of one-dimensional characters fight for their right to be the main character. I didn’t know who to focus on but I was also dissatisfied. There were all these new wonderful characters in front of me who I wanted to love, but I didn’t feel like I actually knew them. I mean I don’t feel like I know the Stoll Brothers either, but I’m not concerned about that fact because they are side characters. When everyone is painted as the main character, I have certain expectations for growth, personality, and voice. The story would have been better served if the characters took turns narrating the action, allowing us to settle into their perspective, see their growth, and better understand their personality.

Plus Rick kills first-person. While I’m not particularly a fan of Trials of Apollo, it’s not because I don’t know the characters. Apollo is so very different than Percy. Their voices, even though they can both be jokesters at times, reflect their different life-experiences, thought processes and provide massive insight into their characters. If the Seven (and Nico and Reyna) got the same treatment, I would be absolutely giddy.

I recognize that rewriting the HoO series in first-person is something a talented fanfiction writer with a lot of time on their hands could actually do. But I am not talented like that and I certainly don’t have the discipline to actually write that much fic, especially if I was trying to keep the events vaguely the same just with different narration and pacing. So instead I’ve included who I think should have narrated each book below the cut. I’d love to hear any opinions people have regarding this idea, especially who they would have wanted to see to narrate each book.

In addition to picking the narrator, I’ve highlighted what should be the “quest” so to speak of each story. Personally, MoA, HoH and BoO are kind of a blur to me despite reading them all recently. It’s hard to distinguish what happens in each book because it’s all one massive quest with a whole bunch of mini-quests. While the different narrators would obviously make the books more distinctive, splitting the series into seven books would also help simplify each book’s individual goal. Eight books would have allowed for better integration of the plot to find the physician’s cure, but with the prophecy of seven, it seemed like seven books was the best option, if I was going to be doing something as blasphemous as splitting books.

As a note, I ran out of steam as I went so not all opinions are fully fleshed out.

Book 1: The Lost Hero The Quest: Rescue Hera/Juno Narrator: Jason

Why this would be cool:

He is literally Juno’s chosen sent on a quest to rescue her. It’s poetic enough to give him the book.

Jason’s journey is just as much about rediscovering himself as it is about saving Juno. Of the new characters, I feel like I understand Jason the least. Mainly because I felt like I was missing the entire first half of his story. Jason, like Percy and Annabeth, is a hero of the Titan War. I know some of his accomplishments, but I don’t have any bearing on what his life was like or how he felt about it. He doesn’t seem like the type to relish Praetor-ship since he doesn’t have the same intense need to get back to his camp as Percy. Was he just hoisted on his comrades’ shields after killing the Titan without any real choice in the matter? Give me Jason’s memories coming back slowly over the course of the quest (with potentially a fractured memory of a mistake he made in the Roman’s final Titan battle that makes him doubt their ability to both rescue Piper’s dad and save Hero but he makes the decision to anyway because he can’t just hurt his friend like that. Let me understand how Jason is the person he is today. Give me glances of the Roman Camp with emphasis on the heavy expectations that have always followed him as the son of Jupiter and foreshadow why he eventually chooses to design all the shrines for the minor gods so he can have his own place in the world as a figure between the two camps.

Let’s dive into those feelings of anger/guilt/resentment when people at camp are disappointed with him for not being Percy or in Chiron’s case are nervous about what his presence means.

I want to dig deeper regarding Jason’s feelings about reconnecting with Thalia. He knows that if the gods hadn’t been determined to keep the two camps completely separate, he could have grown up with his sister.

What does telling the narrative like this sacrifice:

We miss some of the internal turmoil regarding the fact that Piper’s Dad has been captured and she must betray her friends.

We also don’t feel the tensions of Piper’s relationship with Aphrodite. I don’t see Piper bringing up the conversation with her mom saying that her mist memories were so strong because she automatically sensed the potential of a romantic relationship with Jason.

We don’t have any of Leo’s conflicted feelings regarding rescuing Hera or his fear of being made an outcast for his fire abilities. Jason has to go with Leo to discover Bunker 9 and Festus.

Leo doesn’t actively save the day with the Cyclops.

We don’t know how Piper feels about her charm-speak or see her defeat Madea (as the boys are in their weird trance thing).

Knowledge about Gaea’s involvement in wrecking Leo’s life will come later.

Book 2: The Son of Neptune The Quest: Free Thantos Narrator: Hazel

Why this would be cool:

The stakes are so incredibly high. Hazel is literally risking her second chance at life by agreeing to go on this chance. She’s going to the place she died to fight the monster she created. She also has to deal with the trauma of knowing she may have bought the world time with her first sacrifice but it now means nothing if she can’t succeed again.

We get to see Camp Jupiter from the view of someone who loves it but doesn’t really fit in. Hazel joined Camp Jupiter just after the final battle. She enters a community that has learned to fight as a well-oiled machine but that has lost people. Dakota or the others may remark to her about how things were before or the people who are missing. Hazel sees a community that she’s not quite a part of both because she didn’t fight in the war and because she’s in the fifth cohort with a feared godly parent.

It would explore her relationship with Nico more (because I love their dynamic and I want more). She knows she can’t replace his real sister, but she feels comfortable and happy at the opportunity to have a brother, especially one who is out of time like she is.

What does telling the narrative like this sacrifice:

Frankly, the largest pushback would be from the fans who expected this to be Percy’s book since we just watched Jason rediscover who he is.

Percy’s phone call to his mom doesn’t have the same intensity.

Frank’s relationship with Mars and how desperate he was to be claimed but now he doesn’t think he can live up to his father’s expectations.

Frank and his grandmother. We aren’t in Frank’s head as he changes shape till later.

Book 3: Mark of Athena The Quest: Close the Divide Between The Two Camps by finding Athena’s statue and Rescue Nico Narrator(s): Annabeth and Leo

Why Annabeth:

So I can have all the emotions at the reunion with Percy.

Annabeth’s relationship with her Mom has never been great, but imagine beginning the book with Annabeth being given the Mark of Athena. They haven’t left for New Rome yet and her nerves are already all over the place. Then Athena/Minerva comes, gives her an impossible quest, and breaks her hat. Annabeth wants to prove to her mother that she’s worthy because despite everything she still values her mother’s opinions. Also her fatal flaw of hubris makes her believe she will succeed where everyone else failed.

Much of the book already follows her in third person limited so we just get things with a little extra emotion.

Why Leo:

Leo has to grapple with the fact he started this war by being the one to fire the cannon even if he didn’t have any control. He is motivated to fix it

If we’re going to include the Sammy plot, we need to do it now. Leo doesn’t like being the odd one out on the ship but he certainly doesn’t like the feeling of being notable because of his grandfather.

We still need to get into those feelings of abandonment and anger at Gaea for killing his mom.

Nemesis

Leo comes into his own with the discovery of the Archimedes sphere and the decision to value people over objects.

What does telling the narrative like this sacrifice:

The aquarium shenanigans

The fight between Jason and Percy in Kansas needs to happen differently so that the others are present and try to stop it.

Neither of them went ashore to meet Hercules.

I think we might need to move up the Calypso meeting to this book, but that also kills some of the suspense since Frank will have the fireproof coating prior to his adventures in Venice when he gains faith in his abilities. It also might mean Leo opens the fortune cookie from Nemesis unless for some odd reason he doesn’t have it. There’s a lot more narrative weight for it coming later, but in order to get in as many book events as we can in, it might need to come earlier.

Book 4: House of Hades Pt. 1

The Quest: Survive Tartarus Narrator(s): Annabeth and Percy

The first time I read House of Hades, I read it out of order (reading all the Percy and Annabeth chapters until they were on the elevator out of Tartarus before going back and reading the others), because I couldn’t handle the back and forth. I felt like the tension would build, I’d be invested in this plot and then we’d switch to the other plot. Plus I was very concerned for my children. So I feel fully justified in saying that there is more than enough material to give the two of them their own book.

I just feel like all the feelings would be magnified.

Percy’s commentary slowly losing its humor because he can’t anymore.

Annabeth’s guilt at having pulled him in being extra loud.

Downsides beyond adding an entire book: Just imagine all the outrage at two cliffhangers in a row, because you know the book would end with them in the elevator remembering Bob’s words about the stars.

Book 5: House of Hades Pt. 2

The Quest: Close the Doors of Death Narrator(s): Frank and Hazel

Frank and Hazel experience the most growth on the quest to close the doors so this book is all theirs. Hazel learns to control the mist. Frank experiments with his transformations. I want nothing but them growing into themselves and their abilities.

The good thing about turning the two warring storylines from House of Hades into separate books is that we lose very little plot.

Book 6: House of Hades Pt. 3/Blood of Olympus Pt 1 (Personally I would call this one Ambassador of Pluto)

The Quest: Unite the Gods’ Personalities. Narrator: Nico

To clarify what I mean by HoH 3, I just mean anything done with the intention of trying to cross paths with Reyna, including the adventure with Cupid, in addition to the existing Nico&Reyna plotline in BoO.

Nico dealing with all the emotions and his most recent near-death experience.

He kept the secret of the camps so the world wouldn’t end in chaos, but now that the world is in chaos he will be the one to fix it.

In the short time he’s on the Argo 2, Nico realizes that even though this wasn’t his quest; this is his family and he needs to protect them.

The reader has a pretty good idea Nico is gay, even if the word isn’t explicitly said from the descriptions (his guilty Percy thoughts - he let down the man he loves even if he won’t admit it.) This means that Cupid’s forceful outing is potentially less surprising so the reader can be properly outraged at Cupid.

Downside: Reyna definitely has adventures when Nico is passed out, especially the whole waking up with the Hunters, but I think it’s excusable for a whole book from Nico’s perspective.

Also, the battle between the camps and gifting of the statue needs to happen in this book, but we shouldn’t find out if the gods have regained control of their forms yet. We alleviate some tensions because Camp Half-blood is likely to be overrun with Octavian’s monsters instead of the Roman armies and Gaea could awaken any second, but there’s an odd moment of calm and an uneasy truce. (Octavian is potentially taken under custody to be held for trial only to escape in the next book.)

Book 7: Blood of Olympus Pt 2 (and the aftermath)

The Quest: Like The Last Olympian, the final book’s focus is entirely on defeating the series’ big bad, in this case, Gaea. Leo’s quest for the Physician’s cure parallels Percy’s River Styx visit.

Narrator(s): Leo and Piper

Leo has his death hanging over his head. He has decided that he will be the one to die not any of his friends. He got the cloth from Calypso so the “fire” portion of the prophecy applies to him and not Frank. (Yes I know you can’t control prophecies, but do you think that’s going to stop Leo.)

It’s the ultimate revenge for killing his mom. We can have memories of both the happy times with Esperanza and the fear he felt for thinking he caused the fire.

Piper’s perspective is necessary as we need to be with her during the fight with the giants.

This series began with Piper, Leo, and Jason. It ends that way too with the three of them killing Gaea and the two of them narrating.

Downsides:

The Percabeth I love you-the feud is over scene remains in Piper’s perspective.

Since we’re not following Reyna’s delivery of the statue concurrently we don’t know when to anticipate the healed gods appearing in the battle with the giants.

The book can still get away with not showing us Percy’s reunion with Sally or forcing Leo to tell the others he’s alive so they’re all grieving.

#pjo meta #pjo fandom #pjo/hoo #hoo #riordanverse #heroes of olympus #my meta #percy jackon and the olympians #the seven #jason grace #hazel levesque #leo valdez #piper mclean #percy jackson #annabeth chase #frank zhang #the fandom once again improving hoo

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rubyfics · 4 years

Text

We’re (Super) Heroes (A Percy Jackson Fanfic)

Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan

Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase & Jason Grace & Percy J. & Hazel Levesque & Piper McLean & Leo Valdez & Frank Zhang, Nico di Angelo & The Seven

Characters: Percy Jackson, Piper McLean, Leo Valdez, Annabeth Chase, Jason Grace, Hazel Levesque, Frank Zhang, Nico di Angelo.

Additional Tags: Crack Treated Seriously, Superheroes, Attempt at Humor, Annabeth is the only rational one, The Seven Become Superheroes, I try to be funny, Complete Bullshit

Summary: The seven take an interest in comic books, and while most people would want to dress up to go to Comic Cons, or write fanfics, these demigods have different plans. OR The seven become superheroes, while Annabeth tries to talk them out of such stupidity.

There was something about Percy Jackson that nobody but Annabeth knew.

He liked comic books- or “artistic literature” as he would call it when Annabeth playfully teased him about it. It was strange, because Percy had never exactly been a book person either- ADHD made it hard for him to read long paragraphs, or stay focused on a book long enough to finish one. However, incorporating pictures was different- it felt as though her were reading pictures rather than reading words.

That being said, it wasn’t something he openly advertised or anything- not necessarily in fear of others knowing, but it simply never came up in conversation. In reality, he didn’t really care if people knew or not, but what if he bored them with his comic book knowledge? What if nobody knew what the hell he was talking about, and just stared at him weirdly as he did so?

He didn’t think it was worth the time.

So, when he heard Leo talking about Batman casually one day Percy randomly blurted out, “You read comics too?”

Leo, as well as the rest of the table turned to look at Percy with a weird look. Percy looked between Leo, Piper and Jason- what had he missed? Was there something he was supposed to know but didn’t?

“You didn’t know that?” Piper asked pointedly.

Percy, in fact, did not know that. He didn’t really talk to Leo any more than he talked to the rest of the seven- though he would like to. It seems, despite Leo’s hyperactive energy, he didn’t let people in easily. Percy knew. One time, he asked about Leo’s past, and was met with a glare instead.

“Leo’s workshop is scattered with comic books- both from Marvel and DC. He’s been trying to get us to read some-“

“You should!”

Leo raised an eyebrow at Percy, “You’re a comic book nerd as well?”

Percy sighed, his face flushing red in embarrassment, “Well, I wouldn’t say I’m a ‘nerd’ but…”

Jason smirked, “It’s okay, we’re all nerds. It’s a compliment.”

“You’ll never be a bigger nerd than me, though.”

“Shut up, Valdez.”

***

Percy honestly didn’t expect Piper nor Jason to take his advice and read the comics- so when Piper came running in, with an excited look on her face, he was honestly expecting her to announce something stupid Leo was doing, and asking him to come watch. He did not, however, expect, the next words to come out of her mouth.

“I read Leo’s comic books, and I think we need to create a superhero team!”

Percy raised an eyebrow, “Not that I disagree or anything- but why?”

Percy honestly didn’t think Piper was serious- he assumed she meant cosplay or something, and quite honestly, his heart was bouncing in his chest just thinking about it. He’d always wanted to go to Comic Con, but he was too poor. However, his hopes were crushed, when Piper revealed her intentions.

“We all have powers… what better ways to use them than to save people!” Piper exclaimed.

Percy’s stomach swirled with doubt, and confusion. What on earth was she suggesting?

“Piper, we do save the world… all the time… and we nearly get killed doing it.” Percy reminded her.

“Yeah, but the way we do it isn’t cool!” Piper protested. “We don’t wear cool costumes. We don’t do it because we want to, we do it because the gods are dicks!”

Percy sighed- it was true. For once, it would be nice to save a life because he wanted to, not because the gods wanted him to. However, he couldn’t believe how stupid this whole thing was.

“What about the mist? Nobody would see what we’re doing!”

Piper bounced, “That makes it cooler!”

Percy hesitated, thinking about it. The pros were it was super cool, no less dangerous than anything else he does. The cons were, Annabeth would probably murder him.

“Pleeeeeaase Percy! Leo already said yes!”

Percy sighed. Of course he did. He realized there was no winning, and Annabeth would probably kill him anyways.

“Okay. Let’s be superheroes.”

#percy jackson #piper mclean #leo valdez #annabeth chase #jason grace #hazel levesque #frank zhang #nico di angelo #crack treated seriously #attempt at humor

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greekgeek21 · 4 years

Text

The Codependency Competition Ch.1

I intend on not writing any more A/N unless absolutely necessary after this, but I just need to get a little bit of info out before we start (not that any of you are actually going to bother reading this, but if you are, good on you!). Anyway, this story is inspired by the story that @Literallyobsessed wrote: "The Highschool Experiment." I absolutely loved their idea, and I think that there should be more stories like it out there. That's why I'm doing this. Plus, once I get a story idea my head, there is nothing that make it go away. I'm going to try and keep this story in 3rd person all the way, but who knows what will happen?! Also, in this story, Percy and Annabeth are both 17, and they are both seniors. This story can also be found on Wattpad, Ao3, FF, and Inkitt.

THIS GOES FOR THE WHOLE STORY: I don't own PJO, sadly. That title goes to Uncle Rick. The plot's mine though. Sorry if any PJO characters turn a little OOC, I can't control that, but I'll try.

And I just wanted to thank my wonderful and amazing beta, JJ. You can find them on Ao3 as nightskywithrainbows. Go check them out!

That's it! I hope you enjoy this story, and please comment, like, and follow! Happy reading!

– your author

ΩΩΩ

Percy Jackson: the popular captain of the swim team.

Annabeth Chase: the nerdy new girl.

Both of them are on opposite sides of the popularity scale, and are thought to have never even spoken to one another. However, that rumor is completely wrong. In fact, Percy and Annabeth are dating, just without the knowledge of their classmates.

There are a lot of things about those two that the students at Goode High have no idea about. For example, they are both part of the most powerful group of demigods alive, and they are the unofficial leaders of Camp Half-blood, one of only two safe places in the world for demigods. But enough of that, let's get back to their secretive habits.

Three weeks ago, Percy and Annabeth were enjoying themselves with the rest of the Seven and Nico at Percy's apartment when Leo made a remark about Percy and Annabeth's relationship...

"Look at you two! I haven't seen you guys apart since Annabeth went on her quest! You guys have some serious codependency issues." he said.

Percy and Annabeth gave each other an incredulous look before Annabeth responded, "Not true! I can handle being apart from him!"

The prideful young demigod couldn't just ignore a direct blow to her pride, whether it be intentional or not.

"Yeah, right! I'll believe it when I see it," Jason cut in.

"You know what? We will prove it to you, one day, we will," Annabeth vowed.

Two weeks later, Annabeth was starting at Goode, and the opportunity had arisen for the duo to prove their friends wrong. Just as they were about to leave for school, Annabeth got the idea that they should pretend to not know each other at school and see how long they could last. Percy was hesitant at first, but was evidently convinced by his girlfriend, as always.

Now, another week having passed, Percy and Annabeth were walking to school. When they get closer, they have to separate so that it doesn't look like they came together, but for the moment, they were walking hand-in-hand down the sidewalk.

"Are you sure you wanna keep doing this? I mean, I hate not being able to kiss you at school! It's torture to see you ten feet away, but have us not even give each other a hug!" Percy said.

"I'm sure. This can be good for us; having some space, you know," Annabeth exclaimed.

"Alright, fine," he sighed, and then started to walk faster because Goode was coming into their sights, "Just know that I'm expecting a prize at the end of today for my efforts, ok?"

Annabeth just rolled her eyes and started to slow her strides.

When Percy and Annabeth entered the senior hallway, he walked over to his friends and she walked over to hers, his being a considerably larger group. Percy's real friends consist of mostly the people from the swim team, but there's still a group of people that just use his friendship for popularity. For example, Kelsey Evans, Goode's resident mean girl. She wants to become Percy's girlfriend so bad, but he always rejects her. Unfortunately, she keeps coming back, and when she thinks someone else is going to try something with Percy, she bullies them away. The only reason Percy puts up with her is so that he can keep an eye on her.

Annabeth's friend group consists of four other people, two boys and two girls. There is Nora, Addison, Noah, and Ethan. They are all the 'nerdy' type, so they spend most of their free time either in the library or together. Annabeth met Nora first, and she immediately got the run-down of the school social hierarchy from her. At first, Annabeth was surprised to hear that her boyfriend was at the top, considering how much of a Seaweed Brain he can be.

At Annabeth's friend group, Noah was actually speaking about the 'cool' group, "Look how righteous they are, thinking they're better than everyone else! I mean, do they really have to block the entire hallway?"

It was a well known fact in their group that Noah didn't like the cool kids. Apparently it had something to do with a swimming lesson in PE last year.

"At least Percy's kinda nice," Addison added.

"I guess, but he's also kinda scary. I mean, the way that he's beat up some kids! Maybe people just say he's nice cuz' they're scared of him," Ethan said.

"Aren't the kids he beats up bullies?" Nora asked.

"Whatever, I still don't think someone who keeps company like Kelsey should be given the benefit of the doubt," he said.

Without anyone knowing, Annabeth had actually been staring at Percy. His unruly hair, his bright, sea green eyes, and the way that little dimples appeared when he smiled his big, dopey grin could make any girl swoon. Fortunately, she managed to break herself out of her daze before her friends figured out what was wrong with her. She would never tell Percy this, but she was struggling to remain in control of her actions just as much as he was.

The warning bell rang, and everyone started to slowly head towards their first class of the day. The next time Percy and Annabeth would see each other would be in the one of only two classes they shared: Advanced Greek. All of their other classes were separate because Annabeth was taking almost all advanced classes and Percy was only taking the one.

In that class, Percy and Annabeth just so happened to be seated on opposite sides of the room. So, the only class they have together and they aren't even near each other. It's perfect! Annabeth sits next to Addison, and Percy sits next to someone else crazy enough to take Advanced Greek.

When fourth period Greek came around, Percy and Annabeth gave each other a glance as they entered the room, but that was it. That glance was a secret message that they had come up with on the first day: I love you. I was just a reassurance that this whole ordeal wasn't affecting their love for each other.

"Alright class, today we're going to have a pop-quiz! I know, I know, I'm your favorite teacher!" Mr. Anastas said while handing out the papers for the quiz, "You have 20 minutes to finish, afterwards it is free time."

Annabeth and Percy both loved this class because they didn't really have to try in it, the language just came easily. It may not be Ancient Greek, but it's still understandable.

Percy gave Annabeth a glance with a smirk as a form silent communication to say 'race you!'. Annabeth didn't even answer, she just got to work. It only took her three minutes to finish, and just as she was getting up, Percy was doing the same. They both tried to speed-walk without anyone noticing, but by the time they neared the teacher's desk, they were practically running. Just as Annabeth was about to place her paper down, Percy slammed his down before she could. The noise caused everyone to jump and look up to where is came from. What shocked everyone was what they found:

Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase staring each other down!

Addison's eyes widened when she realized that her best friend was glaring at the Percy Jackson. And he was glaring right back!

"I won! Haha!" Percy exclaimed in Ancient Greek with a huge grin on his face.

"Not true! You cheated, Seaweed Brain!" Annabeth rebutted.

"Careful, your hubris is showing," Percy pointed at her.

Seething, Annabeth finally took the time to realize that the entire class, including Mr. Anastas was watching their exchange. She blushed and said, "We should get back to our seats. Bye."

While she turned away, Annabeth could hear Percy yell something at her before he turned to his own seat: "I love you!"

She just rolled her eyes. Seaweed Brain, she thought.

When she got back to her seat, her friend seemed to be trying to figure out what they were saying. Luckily, the teacher and the rest of the class were doing the same thing. If anyone had caught onto what Percy said at the end of their conversation, their secret would be exposed a lot sooner than anticipated.

The rest of Greek class included people rushing to finish their quizzes, the teacher trying to figure out how his students knew more Greek than him, and Percy and Annabeth trying to avoid looking at each other. They didn't need anyone suspecting they actually knew each other!

ΩΩΩ

chapter 2 :)

#annabethchase #percyjackson #percy jackon and the olympians #heroes of olympus #high school #teen #percabeth #seaweed brain #wise girl

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willsimpforanyone · 3 years

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Hey Angel. I have had an awful day today. I got my Maths test back and i got a D. No matter how hard i try i just don't get it!! Anyway, I was wondering if you could write a PJO fic for me? With the Seven (Plus Thalia, Reyna, Nico and Will) X Female Reader. And how they would react/ help you/ comfort you if you got a D on a Maths test. Thanks!

i'm so sorry you had a bad day- i was never very good at maths, i hope you enjoy being cheered up by many characters

--------------------------------------------

Percy- Kid is used to struggling with school, and is totally understanding of your disappointment. I'm sure he's been told many many different methods of revising for school that often don't work, but he's willing to go through every method again just to see if it helps you. Provides an unnecessary amount of snacks but is doing his best.

Annabeth- Is so on the ball with studying. Will help you rewrite all the worded questions in Ancient Greek to see if that helps you, and often forgets about time because you two are so focused on figuring out this damn maths problem. Does a prayer with you specifically to Athena to help.

Jason- Boy knows almost nothing about normal school, but desperately wants to help and be supportive. He'll focus more on making you feel better to help with disappointment over a grade with movies and reassurances that you're still amazing, that a grade doesn't mean much in the long run.

Piper- Still has some knowledge from when she was trying to get her dad's attention by being perfect before she went the other direction, so is down to teach her tricks to you for remembering how to do the maths problems. Makes you laugh by trying to charmspeak the numbers themselves.

Leo- Smart cookie, his strong suit is maths- it's the basis of mechanics, of course he knows maths. Is thrilled to be able to help if you want him to, is equally happy to just let you rant at him and set fire to the paper if it will make you feel better. Can and will stay up with you patiently reteaching you how to solve the problems in less conventional ways that school.

Hazel- Another one who isn't totally sure what any of the maths on the page means, but puts forward the idea that maybe if you try and teach it to her, it might help you understand it better. Calms you down when you get frustrated and who can say no to her earnest eyes?

Frank- Is prepared to hug you and tell you that no matter what grade you got, you are smart and amazing. He's gonna turn into your favourite animal to give you a snuggle, and will listen to your frustrations and ask if there was anything at all he could do to help.

Thalia- Who even cares about maths anyway? If you were really annoyed, she'd direct your feelings towards training and fighting, and once you'd calmed down she'd sit down with you to help you work through the problems again. She may not have had much school experience, but she enjoys yelling at the stupid numbers that make no sense.

Reyna- Strategy is the key word here. Her prowess in planning is carried over to this situation, and she will help you analyse the steps needed to complete the maths problems. She'll listen to you try and explain the problems to her, and will help you with memorising techniques that you can use when you have another test.

Nico- Knows maths to a basic level, and is more willing to help you than he lets on. Actually summons the mathematician that invented the maths problems on your test, and has them explain their method simply. Pretends to be annoyed by staying up late to study, but would never dream of letting you deal with it on your own.

Will- Asks explicitly if you want him to help. Will try and work through the maths with you patiently if you want him too, but is equally comfortable to just let you rant about the stupid numbers that don't make any sense. Sends up a small prayer to Apollo for you, just to see if it helps.

-----------------------------------

i very much hope you enjoyed, thank you for requesting!

#pjo #percy jackson and the olympians #heroes of olympus #percy jackson #annabeth chase #jason grace #piper mclean #leo valdez #hazel levesque #frank zhang #thalia grace #reyna ramirez avila arellano #nico di angelo #will solace #imagine #preferences #preference #x reader

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aussie-em · 5 years

Text

Well This Can’t Be Good

Camp Half Blood Genderbend Chapter 1

Read on A03

Read on FFnet

In which the demigods of Camp Half Blood have their genders changed. And the Hunters of Artemis. Did I mention they're mad at Dionysus? Remember when everyone was safe and alive and happily living at Camp Half Blood after Heroes of Olympus with Leo and Solangelo? Nope, I don't either.

First

All

*Annabeth*

Annabeth woke up to the sound of screaming.

She raced out to the Athena Cabin's porch, ignoring the sick feeling in her stomach. After a second of searching for the culprit of the screaming, she wasn't surprised to find that the Aphrodite cabin was running around, as fast as their Gucci high heels could take them.

What she was surprised with, though, was that the rest of the camp was running around in the fray.

Annabeth hurried back inside, absentmindedly stepping over one of her brothers who was asleep on the ground and grabbed some of her clothes to change before dealing with this mess. As she closed the door she finally took a look at herself through the mirror.

Wait.

Her hand floated up to where her hair used to be. She scanned over herself in the mirror.

Hades...

She quickly changed and bolted into the main cabin. "Uh... Anyone else feeling different?" She called.

"ANNABETH!" Her youngest brother, Riley, screamed. "I'M A GIRL!"

The ten-year-old most certainly was. His usually short blonde hair was now styled into a bob, and he had a more feminine shape to his frame. She looked over the rest of her siblings, noticing Hannah, Riley's twin, was now male, her long hair gone.

She cursed as Malcolm walked over, looking uncomfortable. "Any ideas?"

He shook his head then paused. He had seemed to come to the same conclusion as she had.

"Dionysus... last night." She groaned.

"He is the Greek god of gender." He nodded.

Annabeth sighed as she ran her hands over her face and pushed the new hair covering her forehead out of her eyes. "C'mon. We gotta tell Chiron."

Seconds later, a certain son of Poseidon swung open the door to the Athena cabin the same time she was pulling it open.

"Annabeth." He sighed, slipping his fingers through hers as she pulled him and Malcolm along to find Chiron.

"So... what happened?" He inquired, trusting she would have the answer at hand.

She didn't.

"I- I don't really know." She blinked. "The gods' powers are hard to understand. But think about it; Dionysus is the god of gender."

He whistled lowly. "Last night." He guessed.

"Yyyep." Annabeth pulled a face.

They stopped as Chiron cantred up to them.

"Annabeth?" He guessed.

"Yes. We think our genders have-"

"Changed." Their teacher finished gravely. "I suspected that much."

Percy raised his free hand tentatively, looking around at the panicked state of the camp. "Just wanted to let you know; the Aphrodite cabin is having a full-on panic attack. Drew fainted, but at least she is out for the count. On the other hand, Piper is probably using a bit too much charmspeak."

"Got it." She stressed, then turned back to Chiron. "We were just coming to find you. Counsellor meeting?"

"Yes. Percy, can you run and find Piper? I hate to pull her away from her cabin and their... panicked state, but we'll need her charmspeak to calm down the rest of the camp if Drew is unconscious. I'm worried that we won't be able to calm everyone down without her. Malcolm, Annabeth; go find the cabin counsellors."

"Already on it. Malcolm; I'll do one to twelve; you get everyone else."

Percy and Malcolm ran off ungracefully to find their respective peers.

Annabeth turned to him and sighed. "And to think we only had nine days until school was back in and no drama."

Chiron chuckled sourly as she ran off to find the remaining eight head counsellors of the Olympian gods.

An hour later, the demigod head counsellors of each cabin had communed in the Big House rec room. Ten minutes later, Dionysus had communicated (through his sons, of course, because he wouldn't speak to anyone else) to the demigods the idea that they might have to get used to their new bodies.

Clovis even woke up from his chair in the corner when Nico screeched, "HOW LONG?!"

He was already sulking in a corner, Will rubbing his forehead as he tried to coax his boyfriend out of the shadows.

"Calm. Down. Nico!" Will placed a hand on his boyfriend's shoulder. "It might actually be interesting!"

"And wait until Hazel finds out you're a girl!" Piper finished. Nico and Will glared at her simultaneously as she and Leo laughed. "She might even want to come over and stay a bit."

Nico's hair was even longer than before. Annabeth stifled a laugh at the thought that Piper purely wanted to braid Nico's hair, now that she had more to work with. Even Annabeth rarely escaped that.

Nico just groaned and buried his face in his hands.

Dionysus' son chuckled sourly. "Well, at least we didn't change."

Leo laughed. "What do you mean? You're missing out!" He cackled as he threw his head back and set his mass of curly hair on fire. Annabeth didn't like how this was going. He was definitely enjoying this way too much.

"Well!" Annabeth directed a soft glare at Leo which made him sit up and pat the flames out of his smouldering hair. "I guess we just need to go back to our cabins and..." she blinked. "Well, any questions before that?"

Samantha from Hebe raised her hand and didn't wait before she called out; "Should we change our names? You know, so they're similar but respective genders?"

Annabeth considered this. "No. That would be too confusing. Keep your names."

"Pronouns?" Someone under the table asked.

Annabeth grimaced. She knew this would be difficult to explain. "Well... let people know what pronouns you go by. We can get wrist ties in pink, blue and green, maybe. I know the pink-blue idea is sexist but it'll be the easiest way to silently communicate the pronouns across. If someone uses the wrong ones, just correct them, please."

"How will we get different clothes?"

"I guess we could trade clothes with our siblings, or close friends," Miranda Gardener shrugged, "Or the camp store. How about getting the camp store to give every camper two outfits? That should be enough if everyone else swaps, or you can just wear the clothes you have now."

"Perfect, Miranda," Annabeth nodded. "No more questions?" She inquired, looking around the room. When nobody spoke, she continued, "Well... let's just be grateful that the Hunters left last night. During the night... oh no." She groaned. "Does anyone have a drachma?"

Percy passed her one, and as she was about to throw it into the fountain on the wall, a perfectly timed Iris Message came through from Thalia.

There was almost as much screaming there as there was at camp this morning. Thalia stood in the front of it all, looking almost unchanged.

"Annabeth!? Explain."

*Piper*

The Aphrodite Cabin was in shock. Piper needed all of her influence over her siblings and some other panicking campers. Fortunately or not, Drew was still unconscious.

"PIPER!" Dianne screeched, "I have nothing to wear, my hear is completely ruined, and I can't wear makeup, because I AM A BOY!"

Piper sighed and held out her hand in a 'stop' motion. "Dianne, we all have problems with this. Take a deep breath, exhale, inhale, calm down." She didn't even notice she was using charmspeak until the rest of the cabin seemed to stop and breathe a louder.

"Listen, everyone. No screaming, please. And Lacy, can you write this down for Drew? I really don't want to explain this to her." Piper breathed a long sigh of relief as Lacy, the cabins resident secretary, nodded and grabbed a notepad from the chest at the bottom of her bunk.

"This curse has been given until the next Summer Solstice. That's in about nine months time."

She took a sharp breath, expecting Drew to raise up from the dead, or someone to override her charmspeaking powers. Thankfully, nobody did and Drew remained unconscious.

"Dionysus issued the curse, so there's really no way to reverse it. We're not going to change our names, but you can change your pronouns if you so wish, and we'll have bracelets or anklets made with your pronouns written on it if you want it. You're getting a free outfit from the camp store, you could swap clothes with your siblings, and you can obviously fund your own shopping antics if you choose to buy more," But knowing her siblings, Piper muttered, "Which you can sell or donate or something at Summer Solstice."

She tried to remember what else Annabeth and Dionysus' son had mentions regarding this situation.

"Oh yeah. Also, because Dionysus is ever so merciful, the mist will change you back to your normal selves outside camp borders, or really when you aren't near any mythological beings. So you won't have to be worried about your school, or parents." Piper grimaced, hoping none of her siblings' parents or their siblings could see through the mist. But Aphrodite wasn't really one for telling her lovers about the whole 'the Greek gods are alive and thriving' thing.

She rolled her eyes, remembering that Annabeth mentioned quietly to her afterwards that the real reason Dionysus had more control over the mist inside the camps barrier and he was pretty powerless in the outside world. She wasn't about to mention this to her siblings though.

"The Hunters of Artemis are going to be especially annoyed, so if they come over in the next three quarters of the year please try not to pick any fights with them. Any more questions?"

Nobody called out, and Lacy scribbled on her notepad for a second more before adding a dot to the end of her sentence and nodded, "Is Artemis male now?"

Piper shook her head. "Dionysus doesn't have that sort of power over another god, especially another one more powerful than he is, and Artemis can always change her form anyway."

Nobody else called out, so Piper took that thankfully as no more questions for her to answer with her limited knowledge of the situation.

"Great. Well, it's time for breakfast. Quickly, get changed and we'll go. We still have the next nine and a half months to survive and to figure this out."

#chb genderbend #annabeth chase #annabeth #percy jackson #Piper McLean #camphalfblood #rick riordan #hey look i wrote it early

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pjo-hoo-nextgen · 6 years

Text

Thia’s Arrival

An Anon sent me this prompt from the list I posted!

Prompt: Please, just hold my hand.

— — —

There was no way to prepare for parenthood when you didn’t have months to plan for it. Percy and Annabeth? No worries, they had time to prep. Nico and Will? Time to prep. Thalia and Reyna? About five seconds to figure out what the hell was happening.

“I am literally going to drop kick my father in the balls,” Thalia’s hands sparked with barely controlled anger. “What was he thinking? Oh yeah, he doesn’t think!”

“I still don’t understand...” Reyna frowned examining the note over and over again. She’d flipped it over, turned it upside down, and even folded it before opening it again. There was no additional information.

“Read it to me again,” Thalia pressed her lips into a thin line as she paced back and forth.

“Thalia, it’s come to my attention that you’ve recently been looking to add a member to the family. I took it upon myself to sort out all of the necessary details for you. Prometheus has crafted a child in your likeness as well as Reyna’s. I hope this helps make up for the tough childhood you had. If you wish, I would happily recommend naming the little girl-“ Reyna didn’t bother finishing the note before she crumpled it up and chucked it across the counter.

“All of the necessities? What does he think you need to take care of a baby? Just two people and that’s it? That food spontaneously exists along with diapers and a bed and pajamas and more?!” Reyna was certain Thalia would spontaneously combust at any moment. It wasn’t that Thalia was upset at the child, it wasn’t the kid’s fault, but she was contemplating the many ways she’d beat the crap out of her father.

“Honestly, I don’t even know what to do.” Reyna groaned resting her forehead against the countertop. “I’m so far from the motherly type it’s ridiculous. When Maria was born she cried the first time she saw me!”

“That was a little funny-“ Thalia snorted before seeing the death glare on her wife’s face, “but I have a plan. It’s just temporary.”

“Thalia, love of my life, the best friend I’ve ever had, I hate to tell you that most of your plans are complete shit.” Reyna arched a brow as if she expected Thalia to deny the claim.

“You may be right, but I have some experience. It’s not the best, but I did handle Jason.” Reyna could practically see the gears turning in Thalia’s head. “I can run over to CHB in no time and see if there’s anything I can borrow from Percy. Last I heard Maria had outgrown pretty much everything and they probably have some of her old clothes.”

“Thalia I don’t want to be here alone! What if it cries?” Reyna frowned, she could feel her heart hammering in her chest.

“Then you hold her and rock her. If that doesn’t work maybe swipe some formula that’s left over from Eli. Make sure it’s not hot, test it on the back of your hand.” Thalia was beginning to remember the basics of how she’d take care of Jason all those years ago.

“And your knowledge is exactly why you should stay and I should go.” Reyna stood ready to pounce on the door and beat Thalia outside but the other girl was ready.

“Not a chance. I’m the fastest.” Thalia called over her shoulder already stepping outside. There was a slight crackle of lightning, a tit bit of thunder, and a gust of wind. Reyna groaned running a hand through her hair. Thalia has learned little less than a few months ago that she could run as fast as the wind itself.

“Why did I have to tell her to experiment with her powers?” A slight whine was the only response to Reyna’s words and her attention was drawn to the small baby still settled snugly in its blanket and box. “Oh Gods I’m so going to die.”

— — —

Explaining the situation was difficult but Thalia managed to rattle it off as quickly as possible. Percy had learned long ago to really stop asking questions when weird stuff happened.

Still, he was kind enough to scrounge up some bonus items from Leo and Calypso as well. Thalia had been smart enough to ‘borrow’ a backpack from a nearby store on her run over and it was now bursting at the zippers. “Thanks. Uh, gotta blast. Talk more later!”

And with that she was already jetting off back towards home. The trip took no more than a handful of hours which was quicker than if Reyna had taken a car or Pegasus. Bouncing up the front steps Thalia anxiously entered the house once more.

It seemed Reyna and the baby were having a staring contest. It was almost funny if it didn’t look like they were both going to throw tantrums. “Thank Gods you’re back.”

“What happened?” Thalia sighed taking the bag from her shoulders and digging through it.

“Nothing.” Reyna noted, “just...it’s weird.”

“Yeah, I’m with you on that.” Reyna watched as Thalia went on auto pilot. The daughter of Zeus seemed to know exactly what to do which was very different from Reyna’s ability at the moment.

The little baby seemed much more at ease the moment a bottle was in her mouth. Reyna watched curiously as Thalia kept one hand supporting the end while she also used the other to prop the baby upright. “So...how often do they do this?”

“A lot.” Thalia laughed. “It’s how they grow.”

“I see. Then what do we do after this?”

“You’ll see.” Thalia promised, “right now I’m just trying to make sure a baby doesn’t die in my house. We can decide the details later.”

— — —

Reyna made sure to stay out of the way through most of he evening. The only thing she really contributed to was putting back together the small crib Frank had dropped off which was Eli’s first one.

With the directions laid out Reyna did her best to follow the pictures. She hated small writing though, because it wasn’t just small-it was excessively small.

“Alright, you look old enough for this,” Thalia hummed. Reyna glanced up to see a soft towels sprawled on the counter with a very naked baby carefully settled on top. “Now, don’t you fuss. It’s actually pretty fun I promise.”

“She can’t understand you, you know that right?” Reyna laughed.

“Yes, but it makes things less awkward.” Thalia have Reyna an amused look.

“What’re you going to do?”

“Get her cleaned up. She was outside for a while which is bad. Immune systems in babies are horrible. That’s why everything has to be so sterile when they’re really young.” Reyna could tell Thalia was mentally cursing her father.

“Isn’t she too small for a bath tub?” Reyna questioned.

“Yes, which is why we’re going to use this.” Thalia picked up a small and soft little wash cloth and held it up for both Reyna and the little girl to see.

Reyna rolled her eyes on amusement and temporarily abandoned her work to curiously watch what was going to happen. “She seems excited.”

Thalia carefully took the end of the wash rag back from the little chubby hand that had grasped it. “I would be too, in all honesty.”

Reyna couldn’t help but be alarmed once more by how much the baby looked like her and Thalia. The same skin tone she had and the same colored hair. What small rift of hair the baby had literally wouldn’t lay flat and it was as wild as Thalia’s. Then there was the little smile that matched Thalia’s too.

The baby squirmed when the wet cloth first made contact with it’s skin but soon she seemed to be relaxed. Reyna noticed that Thalia’s touch was even more gentle once she reached the top of the baby’s head.

“Is something wrong there?” Reyna hummed in curiosity.

“Nah,” Thalia shook her head. “You just have to be careful. See, babies have a little soft spot on the tops of their heads where their skull hasn’t fused together all of the way. If they get hit or touched too hard their it’s bad.”

That bit of information absolutely terrified Reyna. “Oh.”

“There,” Thalia rested her hands on her hips for a moment, “done. You can dry her off if you want.”

“I’m perfectly fine with observing,” Reyna laughed nervously.

“Alright, if you insist.” Thalia bundled up the little girl with ease before tucking her snugly in the crook of her arms. “But she’s cute...look at her!”

“Believe me, I have.” Reyna replied. “For someone who was so ready to take on all of Olympus you seem to be rather...attached.”

“And you’re not?” Thalia quirked an eyebrow. “I mean look at those chubby cheeks. Though, they aren’t as chubby as Jason’s were when he was little. Boy did he have some baby fat.”

“Thalia, I’m gonna finish this up you can finish whatever you’re doing with her,” Reyna tucked her hands on her pockets, “then maybe it’s wise if he had a talk.”

— — —

Reyna had finished the crib and the baby was out like a light once it was set up in the edge of their room. Both Aurum and Argentum were curious as to what the heck was now in their house and sat outside the crib staring in expectantly.

“Are we really keeping her?” Reyna asked.

“Of course, what else do we do?” Thalia frowned. “It’s not like there’s a return policy.”

“I know,” Reyna rolled her eyes, “I’m just not-“

“Comfortable?” Thalia finished. “Rey, I wasn’t comfortable with Jason at first. You learn. That’s the whole freaking point. It’s not like we’re both at a complete loss. There’s an advantage in that.”

“Yeah well the whole idea of a kid being that small is-“

“Scary. Of all the things in the world you’re scared of a baby?” It wasn’t hard to read the mood of disbelief on Thalia’s face.

“It’s fragile.”

“Well duh.”

“I’m not good at ‘fragile’”

“Pffft, and I am?” Thalia laughed. Just the past week she’s accidentally punched a little kid too hard on the arm when trying to give him a pep talk. “You know what? Stay there.”

“What are you doing?” Reyna asked in alarm as Thalia scooped up the sleeping baby. “No, I am not holding her.”

“Come on! It’s not so bad.” Thalia sat on the edge of the bed giving Reyna a serious look.

“Don’t you dare.” But it was too late, Thalia had already thrust the sleeping child into Reyna’s arms. “Thalia Grace I will murder you!”

“I’ll take my chances.” Reyna was stiff, she sat with a straight spine, tense shoulders, and rigid hands gripping the sleeping little girl. “Loosen up, relax a little.”

“I am relaxed.”

“Then that’s horrible relaxation.” Thalia snorted. Reyna gave her wife a dirty glare and relaxed the slightest bit.

“Happy?”

“Very.”

— — —

Reyna still wasn’t sure about the situation. She watched the baby’s nose scrunch up like a little rabbit’s, saw a small fist squished up against its cheek, and she felt that it was all a ploy to get her to fall in love.

She couldn’t be tricked like that-but then there was the cute little sneeze, and then the yawn. Her defenses were absolutely destroyed, but she was still cautious.

“You doing alright?” Thalia asked after a couple of moments.

“Please, just hold my hand.” Reyna held out her hand expectantly and Thalia took it in her own. “I’m literally shaking.”

“Good lord you’re so dramatic!”

“In Latin you idiot what do you expect?” Reyna scoffed.

“Can we keep her?” Thalia asked seriously. There was a long pause and Thalia’s anxiety only grew.

“Yes...but I get to name her.” Reyna decided.

“What?! Why?!”

“Because this was your father’s stunt. Not mine!” Thalia wanted to slap the smug smirk off of Reyna’s face but she reluctantly agreed to the deal.

“Fine...but only because I love you.”

“That’s what I thought.”

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